The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has issued a legal opinion concluding that Virginia has the authority to impose tougher standards on clinics where first-trimester abortions are performed.
That stance prompted strong reaction from abortion rights advocates, who accused the attorney general of trying to circumvent the General Assembly, which has rejected attempts to stiffen some abortion clinic regulations.
“This is just a way to basically implement a political agenda,” Tarina Keene of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia said. “It’s not about making abortions safer.”
In Virginia, abortion clinics are categorized as outpatient facilities – similar to medical and dentistry offices and centers for plastic surgery, midwifery and endoscopy. Those facilities are staffed by licensed medical professionals.
Licensure by the state Health Department is required for outpatient surgical centers and hospitals. In Virginia, abortions beyond the initial trimester of pregnancy must be performed in a hospital setting.
Over the years, anti-abortion lawmakers – including Cuccinelli when he served in the state Senate – have sponsored bills to hold abortion clinics to the regulatory standards hospitals must meet. The measures have failed.
Imposing those standards, Keene said, would “single out” abortion providers, require them to make costly renovations and could lead to the closure of 17 or 18 of the 21 clinics statewide.
Cuccinelli’s opinion contends that because abortion clinics provide a variety of medical services, they “clearly are subject to regulation” similar to other medical centers.
“The state has long regulated outpatient surgical facilities and personnel to ensure a certain level of protection for patients,” Cuccinelli’s spokesman, Brian Gottstein, wrote in an e-mail.
“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,” Gottstein wrote.
Cuccinelli’s opinion does not have the force of law, but rather is “the attorney general’s analysis of the current state of the law based on his thorough review of existing law and relevant prior court decisions,” Gottstein added.
The key case Cuccinelli cites in the opinion is a 2000 federal court ruling that upheld South Carolina regulations on certain abortion providers. Gottstein said the court found that regulations are acceptable as long as they serve a valid purpose, do not interfere with the woman’s status as the ultimate decisionmaker, and do not strike at the right to abortion itself.
Cuccinelli wrote the opinion in response to inquiries by Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Botetourt County, and Del. Bob Marshall. Marshall is a Prince William County Republican who previously sought the attorney general’s advice on whether Virginia police officers can check the immigration status of people they stop.
The opinion “sets the stage for regulating abortion clinics like other medical facilities,” Smith said.
In addition to seeking Cuccinelli’s guidance, Marshall recently wrote to Gov. Bob McDonnell, asking him to craft clinic regulations similar to those upheld by the federal court’s decision in the South Carolina case.
The governor’s office is reviewing Cuccinelli’s opinion, spokeswoman Stacey Johnson said. McDonnell supports treating abortion clinics the same as “other outpatient surgical hospitals,” she said, which suggests he would support tougher regulations.
Adopting new state regulations requires multiple layers of government approval and typically takes between 18 months and two years."
Julian Walker, 804-697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
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Hmmm
"Three weeks ago, physician Steven Brigham led a car caravan of patients from his Voorhees abortion clinic to his facility in Elkton, Md. After one of the patients was critically injured during her surgery there, Brigham put the semiconscious, bleeding woman into the back of a rented Chevrolet Malibu and drove her to a nearby hospital emergency room rather than call an ambulance."
This "doctor" also practices in Virginia; but I feel safer knowing that the left has made sure we don't overregulate abortion doctors (sarcasm intended).
One thing.
One thing about Cuccinelli, Mickey D et.al. they keep Va in the limelight. Sort of like the star attraction at Barnum and Bailey,
Not quite
The star attraction at the circus has talent. Cuccinelli is more like the clown who makes you laugh in between acts.
still waiting for which sentence and/or paragraph
Wonder when even ONE of the Cuccinelli haters is going to read the seven page opinion and cite at least one sentence and/or paragraph that "proves" the AG is wanting to restrict abortions.
You can count the number of "thumbs down" without a comment that show how much hatred there is.
There is no hatred,
There is no hatred, Cuccinelli's intentions are well known, nationally.
The Ken and Del Bob Marshall two step
Sounds like some strategery sessions going where they syncronize their playbook and then spring it on Virginny. I thought Bob had made the news awhile back and after a looksee, turns out he did...
Marshall was the subject of controversy in February of 2010, when he made a statement regarding disabled children at a press conference to oppose state funding of Planned Parenthood:
“ The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children... In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There's a special punishment Christians would suggest.[11]
now I remember that marshall article
I remember that Marshall article because it reminded me of Pat Robinson's comment that the 911 attack was due to the gayes in American. All that hate and they call themselves 'christians'.
And..#7.
What about challenging scientists about a subject he obviously knows nothing except what Fix News tells him, nearly ruining the career of someone WAY more learned than he. Sort of like when some wingnut in the former admin tried to bully NASA into CHANGING ITS MISSION STATEMENT because it didn't jibe with primitive notions of space--6,000 year old earth and acknowledging that there is something we have yet to learn (hypothesis)!
Madness abounds.
cycles
this gives one reason to wonder---
how long the pendulum will hold the far right position
Let's see..... a look back at the recent past to present....
Cuccinelli :
1.Fussed about the state seal due to an exposed breast, created new pins and doled them out, then backtracked when he and VA was made a laughing stock, 2.Has issued edicts to State troopers that they should begin inquiring about legal citizenship while making traffic stops (although his edict holds no actual legal weight), 3. Has made it clear that the rights of those other then hetero in sexual orientation can't expect their rights to be guaranteed on college campuses in VA, 4.called it 'baffling' when Arizona got a chance to challenge a federal policy (immigration enforcement) while VA's challenge to another federal policy (healthcare); the equivilent of a press covered political tantrum, and 6. is pressing for change to already regulated abortion providers. *sniff sniff* Is that the smell of ego cocktail mixed with desperate grab at a higher office brewing? He's provided plenty fodder for opponents to use. Palin/Cuccinelli ticket slogan: Beauty & The Boob 2012