Home ACLU of Virginia welcomes attorney general opinion overturning women’s health center rules
Local News

ACLU of Virginia welcomes attorney general opinion overturning women’s health center rules

acluThe American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia today welcomed the formal opinion issued by Attorney General Mark Herring that overrules flawed legal advice given by the prior administration to the Board of Health during the 2012 regulatory process for women’s health centers that provide abortion.

The formal opinion, grounded in sound legal reasoning and accepted administrative law principles, is consistent with legal arguments made by the ACLU of Virginia in a letter to the Board of Health in 2012.  The ACLU of Virginia said then that “the statute that directed the Board to create new regulations for women’s health centers, Senate Bill 924, did not direct the Board to promulgate any specific regulations and did not direct the Board to impose requirements meant only for new construction to existing health centers. Rather, in passing SB 924, the General Assembly rightly committed regulation to the Board’s discretion and expertise.”

The formal opinion issued today supersedes prior advice given to the Board of Health and makes clear that Virginia law does not direct the Board to impose on existing facilities requirements meant only for new construction. Instead, the opinion makes clear that the law requires the Board to exempt existing women’s health facilities from such requirements, as it has consistently done for every other type of health care facility subject to new construction standards.

“There was no credible legal basis for the former Attorney General’s assertion that the Board does not have the authority to issue a regulation that excepts existing women’s health care facilities from meeting construction and building codes adopted after they were built,” said Kathy Greenier, Director of the ACLU of Virginia’s Reproductive Freedom Project.

“We welcome the correction of that deeply flawed legal analysis that resulted in the imposition of medically unnecessary and financially burdensome requirements that would drive abortion providers out of business,” Greenier added. “We urge the Commissioner and the Board of Health to follow the opinion, use science and sound legal analysis to guide future regulatory decisions, and treat women’s health centers the same as other  existing health care facilities have consistently been treated when applying new rules and construction standards,” Greenier concluded.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.

Latest News

lgbtq+ court
Politics, Sports News

Trump signs executive order banning trans athletes from high school, college sports

Venezuelan Venezuela flag protest unrest immigrant migrant TPS
Politics, U.S. & World News

Venezuelan family legally in the U.S.: ‘For most people, we are criminals’

A number of Venezuelans living legally in the United States are afraid after the Trump Administration has revoked their protective status.

mark warner
Politics, U.S. & World News

Mark Warner throws down: ‘People need to stand up and speak out’

Mark Warner is starting to get it, that go along to get along isn’t going to work with Trump 2.0, that his predilection for being thought of as a radical centrist is outdated when the other side thinks everybody else is the enemy, and isn’t willing to triangulate.

lab with researcher and test tubes
Politics, U.S. & World News

‘NIH is mission critical’: Lawmakers call out Trump for endangering medical research

fire truck jacket helmet
Local News

Albemarle County: Cooking fire causes blaze in residential structure

crime scene tape
Local News

One injured in Harrisonburg shooting: Police searching for leads in case

student at computer
Politics, U.S. & World News

Trump pledges to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education; He doesn’t say why