Virginia City Council Passes Resolution Creating Committee To Study If Stricter Guidelines Needed To Regulate Abortion Clinics

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 26 Oct 2007 - 6:00 PDT

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The Manassas, Va., City Council on Tuesday passed a resolution that would create a committee to study what regulations and guidelines abortion clinics in the city operate under and to determine if stricter guidelines are needed, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, Amethyst Health Center for Women is the only clinic in the city that provides abortions.

Virginia requires women to wait 24 hours after an initial appointment before receiving abortions. The state also requires consent from a parent or guardian of a minor before the procedure is performed, the Post reports. In addition to federal standards, clinics and doctors are required to follow regulations and conduct requirements from the state Board of Medicine and the Department of Health Professions. "The focus of this [resolution] is to look at the health and safety requirements being done" at Amethyst, City Council member Marc Aveni, the resolution's author, said. Aveni added that he is concerned with issues such as cleanliness, after-care, inspections, hospital privileges and procedures performed on minors. The council's options concerning guidelines and regulations for the clinic include changing the definition of a hospital to include any medical facility that performs 25 abortions or more annually. It also could require Amethyst and future clinics to meet standards for outpatient surgical hospitals, including elevators and other architectural modifications, according to the Post.

Elizabeth VanDerWoude, owner of Amethyst, said the clinic provides surgical and medical abortion services, as well as gynecological services. She added that the clinic is a member of the National Abortion Federation, which makes unannounced inspections. "We don't do abortions over the first trimester," VanDerWoude said, adding, "That is why everybody gets a sonogram before we do the procedure. We comply with the 24-hour waiting period. We comply with the parental consent." According to VanDerWoude, the clinic also provides counseling and other services before and after abortions are performed. "Regulations such as these are calculated to chip away at abortion access under the guise of legitimate regulation," Jennifer Blasdell, director of public policy for the National Abortion Federation, said. She added that in addition to architectural standards, some proposed regulations include:

• Allowing state inspectors to access patient records;
  
  
• Requiring evaluations that might not be medically necessary; and
  
  
• Stipulating what medical professionals should be on staff and assigning duties to them.
  

Council member Jonathan Way, who warned against passing a draft resolution that stipulates guidelines, said he wants the committee to have "technically competent people and not position advocates" to establish a need and identify constitutional boundaries. He added that he also wants to see "meaningful" regulations that are in the best interest of city residents. The committee will study the issue and plans to release the results in March, the Post reports (Goodman, Washington Post, 10/25).

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