Planned rules for Va. abortion clinics called 'an attack'

RICHMOND

Officials at abortion clinics around Virginia said Monday that their offices do not meet building standards in draft state regulations, with one arguing that the move is "an attack on reproductive rights" intended to force clinics to close, not enhance safety as some proponents suggest.

Draft regulations released Friday also would establish licensing standards and permit surprise state inspections, among other requirements of clinics.

Earlier this year, state legislators directed the state Health Department to redefine clinics as a type of hospital and regulate how they function. The rules would apply to clinics that perform at least five first-trimester abortions per month.

The state Board of Health is to consider the draft regulations Sept. 15. Temporary regulations could be in place by the start of next year and remain in effect until permanent rules are enacted.

The new law is a victory for anti-abortion advocates who have long sought stricter controls on abortions in Virginia, where clinics haven't been regulated in this fashion since 1983.

"Despite knee-jerk accusations by the abortion industry that the regulations go too far, we believe that standards providing for regular inspections, requiring that the doctor stay on premises until women are actually ready to be discharged, and having emergency equipment on site seem wholly reasonable," said Chris Freund of the Family Foundation, a social group that supports the regulations.

Perhaps most worrisome to clinic operators is a mandate that they must meet building standards set forth in a 2010 industry manual on the design and construction of health care facilities. Those guidelines would take precedence over the state building code.

Under the regulations, examination rooms at clinics must contain at least 80 square feet of clear floor space; some operating rooms must have at least 150 square feet; and public corridors must be at least 5 feet wide - 6 feet if patients are wheeled through them on stretchers.

Freund said the regulations would allow clinics to ask the state to waive operating room construction standards.

One Planned Parenthood official said its seven clinics in Virginia may not meet all of the new physical standards without costly modifications. Among them are its five newer facilities, including the center on Newtown Road in Virginia Beach that opened last year.

Erin Zabel, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia, called the proposed regulations "a big overreach."

"The concern should be about the quality of care, not about the architectural standards of the building," added Zabel, who said holding existing clinics to 2010 building standards would impose a heavy burden.

Other clinic operators find themselves in a similar fix.

An official at the Women's Wellness Center in Virginia Beach said that facility, as presently situated, would not meet the proposed regulatory standards.

And Jill Abbey, director of the Richmond Medical Center for Women, which also oversees clinics in Char-lottesville, Roanoke and Newport News, said that even though they've operated successfully for decades, their design doesn't match the pending rules.

"These regulations are not about safety, they're about closing abortion clinics, plain and simple," Abbey said, calling them an attack on reproductive rights by anti-abortion Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Abortion-rights advocates said conforming to the rules could be expensive and potentially untenable for clinics that lease space in medical office buildings.

They argue that clinics, which had been treated like physicians' offices, are now being singled out for stricter requirements, while other outpatient medical centers that offer invasive dental, cosmetic, optical and digestive procedures don't face similar state oversight.

Overall, state statistics show abortions have decreased modestly in recent years. Fewer than 26,000 were performed in 2010.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com