Virginia Takes Steps to Make Abortion Clinics Safer

Barring reversing Roe v. Wade, abortion clinics are a reality of U.S. life. But one state is at least working to make abortion clinics safer.

The Virginia State Board of Health’s voted 12-to-1 on Thursday to adopt safer health standards for abortion clinics. The decision comes only months after a number of women died from deplorable conditions at an abortion clinic in a nearby state.

“This decision is a critical step toward protecting women’s health at abortion clinics. Family Research Council and the families we represent are pro-life and pro-mother,” says Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council’s Director of the Center for Human Dignity. “We are concerned equally with the safety and well-being of women who visit abortion clinics as we are with their babies. If we cannot accept sub-standard care that would jeopardize women’s health in other areas, such as post-natal care, we cannot accept it from abortion clinics.”

Abortion proponents often equate women’s health with abortion access, Monahan continues, but they seem to have little concern for the safety of the procedures and pills, which have taken the lives of many women, most recently in Pennsylvania.

“Everyone, including abortion facility operators, should be able to agree that abortion clinics should not operate with less oversight than beauty salons or public pools, as they do in many states,” Monahan says. “Women deserve much better.”