Let’s be clear: you can never make abortion 100% “safe” for women until abortion ends.
But we can, on the way to victory, require abortion centers to follow health codes that other medical environments must already comply with, and that’s exactly what the Virginia Board of Health recently voted 12-1 to do (the Virginia assembly previously backed the move in a bi-partisan vote).
Abortion advocates have claimed that the new regulations are burdensome. But what do they actually include? Things like this:
Among the state’s 46 pages of requirements, for example, is one that says sinks must have hands-free faucets and others that govern air flow and temperature in clinics. [The Washington Post]
Oh my goodness, the horror! Hands-free faucets?! …Oh wait, I’ve seen those at every hospital and doctor’s office I’ve ever been inside.
In fact, the Virginia Board of Health used to regulate abortion clinics from 1981 to 1984, then former governor Charles S. Robb (D) ended the practice (Planned Parenthood funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Robb, as you can see here, here and here).
The basic principle back in the 80’s and again now is that any health clinic that performs surgeries (like abortions) ought to be a safe environment (well, as “safe” as abortion can be). And yet, Planned Parenthood and abortion advocates are outraged.
Cecile Richards is actually trying to raise money off this news, calling it a “backdoor ban on abortion” and claiming that “these restrictions won’t do a thing to improve patient care or safety” — honestly? 46 pages of health codes that won’t improve anything? I simply find that impossible to believe.
Richards goes on to complain that “in state after state, from Texas to Wisconsin to New Jersey, [and Pennsylvania]” similar campaigns are underway.
But I think that’s marvelous. And guess who else does? A huge majority of Virginians:
By an overwhelming 55 – 22 percent, Virginians support a new law requiring abortion clinics to be regulated like hospitals, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
There is virtually no gender gap as women support tougher regulation of abortion clinics 54 – 21 percent, while men back the measure 57 – 24 percent. Support is 62 – 12 percent among Republicans, 57 – 21 percent among independent voters and 47 – 34 percent among Democrats.
Did you catch that? Voters from every political party support these new rules!
And it’s no surprise. After all, we’ve learned just this year about horror stories like “Doctor” Kermit Gosnell’s unregulated abortion clinic in Pennsylvania — just google that story if you don’t already know about it (fair warning: the details are sickening). And yet Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood and abortion advocates continue to oppose measures to prevent abortion clinics to be regulated. So much for really caring about womens’ health!
Bottom line: a huge majority of Americans of all political persuasions are behind requiring abortion clinics to abide by health codes that –in the words of one pro-life activist– “even clinics and barbershops” are asked to comply with. I applaud the efforts to do so here in Virginia and hope that other states that have not already followed suit do so soon!
This is one small step towards ending the dangers of abortion once and for all.
