Enacting abortion clinic regulations is a winning issue for pro-lifers. In states without abortion clinic regulations, such as mine – IL – abortion mills are less regulated than veterinary clinics, nail salons, and roofers.

The debate alone increases public awareness that abortion mills are creepy and unsanitary. (Photo right is of late-term abortion LeRoy Carhart’s NE mill.) It also puts pro-aborts on the defensive, forcing them to argue against the health and safety of women.


And actually enacting clinic regs forces many abortion mills to shut down, because they can’t afford to come up to code.

(Photo left is of abortionist Krishna Rajanna’s former KS mill, now closed down.)

But according to Americans United for Life, only 1 state, MO, “imposes stringent ambulatory clinic standards” on abortion clinics, which is as it should be. 21 states impose “varying degrees” of abortion clinic regs, 5 states regulate mills committing 1st trimester abortions only, and 8 states have clinic regs that have been enjoined or are not being enforced. Altogether, 27 states have clinics regs of some sort, meaning 23 don’t. See your state’s status on page 18 for AUL’s model language.

All of that was to get to an important decision issued last week on this topic by Republican VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who concluded 2 state agencies (the Board of Medicine and the Board of Health) already have the power to enact clinic regs, never mind specific legislation. Recalling my points above, read the article detailing Cuccinelli’s decision in yesterday’s Washington Post. It bodes quite poorly for the other side:

Abortion-rights advocates said they are not surprised by Cuccinelli’s decision and predicted that if the Board of Health acts on his opinion, the regulations could prompt the shutdown of 17 of the state’s 21 clinics performing abortions….

(What does that say about the current conditions of those 17 abortion mills? And photo right is of buckets of aborted babies at an unnamed CA abortion mill.)

Cuccinelli concluded that the Board of Health, which regulates hospitals and nursing homes, has the authority to write new regulations requiring that doctors who perform abortions at the clinics hold hospital privileges, counselors have professional training and buildings undergo structural changes….

(Of course an abortionist should have privileges at the nearest hospital. And of course counselors should be trained, not some pro-abort smarm off the street as they are currently. And what about “structural changes”? Those would be, for instance, doors wide enough for a gurney to pass through, 36″, as opposed to the typical 32″ doorway. Again, common sense.)

“The state has long regulated outpatient surgical facilities and personnel to ensure a certain level of protection for patients,” Cuccinelli spokesman Brian Gottstein said. “There is no reason to hold facilities providing abortion services to any lesser standard for their patients. Even pharmacies, funeral homes and veterinary clinics are regulated by the state.“…

Critics of Cuccinelli, who opposes abortion, accuse him of issuing the opinion after he was unable to get the bills passed in a divided legislature. “He’s trying to do an end run around the General Assembly,” said Del. David Englin (D-Alexandria), who fought the bill in the House. “He’s trying to create law, and the VA Constitution doesn’t give him that authority.”

(I’d like to ask hypocrite Englin is this means he opposes Roe v. Wade, which did a little doozy of an end run around state legislatures.)

Again referring back to my initial comments, watch this WTTG Fox 5 gem yesterday, where Susan B. Anthony president Marjorie Dannenfelser drubs NARAL VA’s Tarina Keene. It seems to me the interviewer appeared to take the inquisitive view most of the public would: not quite understanding what was abortion gang’s prob…

Also mirroring, I think, public reaction to a pitch for safer abortion clinics was US News & World Report’s Mary Kate Cary:

I don’t understand. I thought the mantra of prochoice groups is that abortion should be “safe and legal.” If abortion clinics don’t have to meet hospital-type standards, aren’t they unsafe? If you’re getting an abortion, don’t you want your doctor to have hospital privileges in case something goes wrong? And aren’t most counselors professionally trained? (Isn’t professional training what makes a counselor a counselor, and not just a friend with an opinion?) The fact that so many clinics might have a problem meeting hospital standards tells me how many of them are unsafe.

Whether you’re prolife or prochoice, how anyone can be opposed to making abortions less dangerous is beyond me….

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