New regulations could mean changes ahead for area women’s clinics

Virginia’s Attorney General Mark Herring and other state groups have made comments about the upcoming meeting of the state Board of Health to review rules on abortion clinics in Virginia.

The Attorney General’s thoughts on new clinic regulations

This week, Herring made a statement reversing an opinion of his predecessor, Republican Ken Cuccinelli.

According to Herring, the new construction standards should apply only to new abortion and women’s health clinics being built – not retroactively on existing clinics.

“Despite what the previous attorney general claimed, nothing in the law requires or even authorizes the Board to apply these design and construction standards retroactively. Without [Cuccinelli’s] interference, the Board would have done what it has always done which is apply these standards to new facilities, not preexisting ones. This opinion corrects the previous administration’s incorrect advice and helps restore the integrity of the regulatory process, which should be used to ensure the health and safety of Virginians, not as cover to pursue ideological agendas,” said Herring in a statement.

Herring has no oversight over the Board of Health, but his opinion could have some sway on members of the board, who will be meeting on June 4.

The change in abortion clinic regulations were passed under former Governor Bob McDonnell.

The regulations, as written, would mandate that the 18 abortion clinics located in Virginia overhaul their buildings – widening hallways, adding parking spaces and other renovations that could be very expensive for the clinics.

Changes already seen in the City of Manassas

In April, the Manassas City Council voted to require that abortion clinics, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities, must get special approval from the council to open within city limits.

While the council stated it was largely a zoning issue, women’s clinics in the area, such as the Amethyst Health Center for Women in Manassas, were concerned about the special permissions and the impact that the state regulations could have on their clinic.

“We never believed that these medically unnecessary architectural regulations should be applied to existing clinics like Amethyst in Manassas. As Attorney General Herring noted today, laws are not applied retroactively unless the legislature explicitly says to do so, which the General Assembly did not do for these regulations,” said Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation.

Saporta stated that she hoped the Board of Health will consider Herring’s statement, when going forward to make decisions on the regulations in June.

“Anti-choice politicians repeatedly ignored scientific evidence and testimony from medical experts, health care providers, and even the Virginia Health Commissioner, who later resigned over the passage of these unwarranted regulations. We urge the Commissioner and the Board of Health to follow Herring’s opinion and use evidence to guide future regulatory decisions about existing and new women’s health care providers in Virginia,” Saporta commented.