Cuccinelli suggests abortion regulation

Nan Turner
Staff Writer

On Aug. 20, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued a legal advisory concerning the health regulations in abortion clinics throughout the state of Virginia. In his opinion, Cuccinelli said he would like to see abortion clinics be required to meet health standards that match that of a large-scale hospital. If this becomes law, some clinics would be made to retrofit their operating rooms and hallways within their buildings among other things. These renovations would force some smaller clinics to close if they could not meet the new policies.

Gov. Bob McDonnell has publicly supported Cuccinelli’s opinion.

In a statement released by the National Organization for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), Tarina Keene, executive director of the group, said she is not in favor of the advisory or the Governor’s support on the issue.

“It’s clear that Governor McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli are working hand in hand to undermine women’s health and privacy in the commonwealth,” Keene said. “If the McDonnell-Cuccinelli agenda succeeds, we could see 17 of the 21 abortion providers disappear from Virginia, eliminating women’s access to abortion and other services, such as birth control and cancer screenings, that these medical facilities provide.”

Although the legal advisory does not hold the weight of a law, it could impact future legislation. In the past five years, several bills have been proposed and subsequently denied (in the time that Cuccinelli was a state senator) that have similar repercussions as Cuccinelli’s latest opinion.

In early 2004, VA S 146 was proposed, voted on and ultimately defeated. The bill aimed to restrict abortions to hospitals or ambulatory surgical centers. This would have put a higher cost on abortion providers. The bill also wanted to change the definition of “hospital” to include anywhere that practices more than 25 abortions a year. This particular bill was defeated in Feb. 2005.

Olivia Gans, the president of the Virginia Society for Human Life, said that the opinion is much more a discussion between parties, but that any discussion about the issue is positive.

“Abortion is the most under-researched and under-regulated procedure performed on women but it is also the most common procedure performed on women,” Gans said. “No abortion can be made truly safe — the procedure still endangers the mother’s life and results in stopping an unborn child’s heartbeat.

“Whenever any kind of protective legislation is discussed, you always see this cloud of hysteria from the pro-choice side.”

However, Keene of NARAL said that safety has nothing to do with pro-choice advocates resistance to the Attorney General’s opinion.

“In 2008, some 27,000 abortions were performed in the commonwealth and I am unaware of even a single minor complication,” Keene said. “Abortion is one of the safest and most frequently performed outpatient procedure in the country and in Virginia. This is a slap in the face to every board that regulates this procedure.

“If they’re so concerned about safety, why aren’t they looking at women who get cosmetic surgery or lasik?”

Keene estimates that retrofitting a single clinic to meet the proposed requirements would cost $1.5-2 million.

Diane Derzis, owner of A Capital Women’s Health Center in Richmond, agrees with Keene’s belief that Cuccinelli is not concerned about women’s health but more about the procedure of abortion itself.

“I’m not in any way opposed to regulations in clinics, just like any other practices, but that’s not the objective,” Derzis said. “Abortion is 9-14 times safer than childbirth and statistically it’s safer than a shot of penicillin. He knows that would close most of the clinics in the state. You have physicians doing outpatient surgery in their office, which is far more serious than a first trimester abortion service.”

Derzis said if the Attorney General was sincerely interested in women’s health she would be more than willing to sit down with him and discuss how to implement new regulations and make improvements.

Still, there are some who fully support Cuccinelli. VCU senior Lauren Hidalgo is a member of the Students for Life group at the university; she said she thinks the opinion could reap many benefits.

“I think that the advisory could definitely be worthwhile and helpful,” Hidalgo said. “People should recognize that they deserve better quality service for something as serious as an abortion. Once they realize that, they may even reconsider having an abortion at all.

“I would like to see this law passed and a majority of abortion clinics shut down. I would also like to see more support given to those women who choose not to have an abortion.”

Cuccinelli’s office did not immediately return calls or e-mails.

For more information on the legal opinion visit the Attorney General’s website at www.cuccinelli.com.