Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is winning.
Last month Virginia Democrats let an anti-abortion bill pass, in a chamber they controlled, that could lead to the closing of 17 of the state's 21 clinics. This weekend, Tarina Keene of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia sent around three stories that show just how dire their situation is.
1) The new law governs the clinics as though they were hospitals, with regulations that many of the older, smaller clinics can't afford to meet. Instead of the usual two years for new rules to take effect, the law calls for rules to be written within 280 days from the time the governor signs it. The new rules will get moved through as emergency regulations, subject to review and rewriting by the anti-abortion Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and put in place by January 1.
Election Night 2010/Flickr
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is winning, too.
2) When this bill idea came up last year, clinic operators felt more secure because Democrats control one chamber of the legislature and the state Board of Health. The first proved no protection, and now Republican Governor McDonnell is on the verge of moving the board into a GOP majority. The public gets one opportunity for comment, when the board votes on September 15. "The governor can have just as much power over this as he wants to," Ms. Keene tells the Washington Post.
3) The clinic operators might sue, and the rules might get revised under a longer, non-emergency review. But it won't matter to the clinics (and the women who need them) if the emergency rules have already run them out of business. "This is going to happen so very fast," Planned Parenthood's Paulette McElwain tells the WaPo. "There's very little we can do."
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So much for womens rights. What is wrong with the country that we keep electing people that do not follow the law?
They are too busy instituting their version of Christian Sharia Law.
They are a party of HATE.
They hate the female and all medical expenses related to female conditions. But when it comes to funding research on Viagra, it is unlimited.
They hate the middle class workers.
They hate the poor needing help with food stamps and Social Service, (mostly single women with children).
They hate public radio and TV and worked in an emergency meeting to defund it. Emergency, not jobs, not the economy (the piddly little percentage of expenditure did not warrant an emergency meeting)
So, you ask, why, if the focus is supposed to be on creating jobs and building the economy, why, are they focused on removing benefits from the middle class and the poor?
Why are they continuing to allow the tax breaks for the rich while asking the working person take a pay cut?
Because they hate the working person, and the poor. So if you are poor and a worker who did not vote in the last election.... I BLAME YOU for letting the extremists get into office. IF you do not vote them OUT in the next election, I will blame you again and say you deserve the benefits removed by the extremists just voted into office.
It is time to get organized and get out the vote for the next election.
If you are not registered to vote, go to your local Board of Election and register to vote.
Your fate is in your hands.
The Virginia Taliban is going strong. Christofascists around the country can once again celebrate a victory of intolerance over law. Mullah Omar would be so proud.
My husband, has been called a "baby killer" to his face, just for being a Democrat, in VA. I am not sure how any woman can be a Republican anymore, for any reason .
Hmmm, the pro-choice Democrats passed the new medical care regulations, the state Board of Health charged with governing/overseeing medical care seems to be in favor of the new medical care regulations, but it STILL must be Anti-Abortion. It could never be that these individuals were trying to look out for the health of women seeking abortions, that would be insane!
It kind of looks that way, when it leads to 17 of the state's 21 clinics getting shut down. Why are these new regulations being put into place? Have the clinics received any complaints about not being able to attend to women's needs? Have people found them to be unsafe or ill equipped? Is it necessary that abortion clinics, which only provide abortion care, be regulated like hospitals, which treat every type of illness and injury under the sun? The pro-choice Democrats could see this as another "compromise" that needs to be made with their clearly anti-abortion governor. Just because they aren't piping up about it, doesn't mean that they are good regulations that will do anything to improve women's health.
Since there was little context provide, it's hard to answer the valid questions you asked. (Laura, not meant to be a reflection on you...contrary to my political views, I think you do a good job.)
I followed a couple of links and it looks like it is the manner that this is being doing more so than the increased care regulations. My guess would be this is in part a response to what happened in Philadelphia with Dr. Gosnell.
I try to be a realist and understand the motive could be to exploit that situation or it could be a realistic attempt to make sure something like that doesn't happen in Virginia.
True, enough. Maybe someone could provide link to an assessment of the legislation from BOTH sides. I don't think regulations have been written and that is part of the problem as well.
Actually, RobDon, this bill was introduced long before the incident in Philly with Dr. Gosnell. It is nothing more than a very crafty way to outlaw abortion without directly going against Roe v. Wade. By Virginia's logic, you could ask for the same hospital-quality standards in dermatologists offices, lasik surgery centers, or any other medical setting that is not a hospital. Yet, strangely, none of that is happening in Virginia. I wonder why that could be? Could it be that christian fundamentalists have no problems with botox injections, tummy tucks, or vision problems?
@RobDon: I also followed the links, and it is true that Mr. Cuccinelli is defending these new regulations by claiming that abortion clinics are *kind of* like hospitals in that they provide a variety of medical services and procedures, so they should be subject to the same regulations that hospitals are subject to. But certain regulations that apply to hospitals would be absurd to apply to abortion clinics. Hospital halls must be wide enough to wheel a gurney with people on either side through. Abortion clinics don't use gurneys, so why should their halls be wide enough to accommodate them? How does that improve women's healthcare? I'm assuming that the governor wants this to be about improving clinic standards or something. My question is, if clinic standards are subpar, why aren't they being talked about? You usually name and talk about the problem before you come up with the solution. My guess is that there isn't any real problem with abortion clinic standards. The governor probably knows that the regulations will be too costly for most abortion clinics to implement, therefore most of them will have to shut down. It's a brilliant tactic, actually; cause 4/5 of all abortion clinics to shut down without attacking abortion directly. That is, if you are trying to win a culture war. It's a crap idea if your goal is to improve women's health care.
Uffdaguy, relevant fact. Dr. Gosnell could explain the urgency but not the origin according to this time line. Interesting.
Girl O, this is the type of analysis that all political rhetoric (on both sides) should be subjective to. I'll have to read more to study the particulars, which on first glance seemed not to be written yet so I'm uncertain on how "gurney" rule is already in play. But, if this and other similar useless regs do apply, it is a strong indicator that other motives than a woman's health is involved.
See, I can be objective (if I try real hard.) Thanks for the info. I'll read more when I get some time.
Gosnell is a convenient excuse.
With a Democratic Party like this, who needs the Republican TEA Party GOP? Performance like this drives low voter turnout, which in turn drives more electoral victories from the right.
When Democrats act like conservative Republicans, voters eventually replace them with real Republicans.
I am wondering how the Virginia Democrats let this happen -- or rather why they let this happen? If women cannot count on Democrats to stop this state by state assault on women then where does that leave us? I agree with Rachel and her guest last week Naomi Klein that abortion, LGBT rights, and other culture war issues are being used as a strategic device to keep voters distracted from the fact that a vote for the GOP is a vote against your economic interests.
Now it seems Democrats are perhaps either jumping on this bandwagon or too lazy to care.
Virginia Democrats I know are outraged. It appears that the Democratic elected officials are kowtowing to the republicans in order to curry favor with... who? I have no idea.
So, how much will it cost to bring the average clinic into compliance w/ the proposed changes? Is it time for a fund raiser, ala KO's free health clinics or LO'D Desks? Both raised a lot of money and helped many. If five clinics could be saved, wouldn't it be worth it? I'd give even tho I live in WA state. Go for it, Rachel!
So it's back to the back alley or coat hanger for women! Good move Virginia! sarc
The Commonwealth of Virginia has always been ahead of the curve..... /sarc
Ooooh, don't tell me, let me guess: There's some sort of a "fiscal emergency" lurking around behind this.
So, are those Dems being bought by the Kochroach Brother too? Something worse than the Taliban is coming.
I'm extremely disappointed more women are not standing up for their rights. The constant assault by the R and religious right trying to circumvent the law is a disgrace.
Yes, I agree. Women should be standing up for their rights. Grassroots abstinence to start with. They should be making noise. They are complacent. How can any woman vote for those who want women to die in back alleys and drink lye at home? Where did all those people come from who have no feeling for anyone but themselves.
While I agree that this action is questionable, I'm concerned with the rights of women focusing so strongly on abortion. In a time when pregnancy is preventable when correct precautions are taken, I think women would stand a better opportunity of being taken seriously if we took responsibility and lessened the need for abortions. Before I'm crucified, I understand situations such as rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions to the mother must be addressed. I'm just curious as to statistics concerning the clients' educational and economic background. How many of these pregnancies could have been prevented if the individuals involved took responsibility for their actions? The rights of women relate to so much more than abortion. We've been cajoled into equating those rights with being able to get abortions legally. Young girls due to economic circumstances, cultural traditions, lack of education are not given the opportunities to empower themselves. I don't believe abolishing abortion is the answer, but I do believe we are sorely lacking in educating young women, informing them of their options, and building their self-awareness and confidence. We fought for passage of the ERA in the 60s and 70s; yet we're still struggling.
Yes, and the GOP's attempts to defund planned parenthood will cut access to things like comprehensive sex education and affordable contraceptives that would go a long way towards reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies.
Flora-dora, I would argue that this is essentially not about abortion, it's about who has root control final say over your bodies. The pro-lifers say that you do not have the right to control what goes on in your body, and if you become pregnant by hook or by crook you must become chattel for 9 months if not longer, no matter what. Enforced by the biggest government anyone could be terrified to imagine, one that has invaded your very bodies down to the organ level.
The fact that I can keep parroting this article out scares me:
http://www.thenation.com/article/158981/war-womens-futures
Also Jender I somehow removed you from my Twitter account and I don't know how to re-add you?
@Mickey - such a great article! MHP is so right on - and I'll see if I can re-follow you on teh twitter.
@Jess - excellent point about this ultimately being about control!
Who would have thought one hundred years ago the potential of the right wing, racist Republican Christian base could bring this country to it's knees?
It is so very humiliating to be living in Virginia. I am tarred with the controlling conservative views which keep us with roads that are virtually undriveable, school text books which are unedited for accuracy or relavance, financial decisions which only dig our hole deeper and deeper. And I ache for the young women whose lives will only get worse as a result of this new policy. UGH! Don't move to Virginia, it has a serious virus.
The only other place that I would rather NOT live in than Oklahoma, where I was born and too broke to leave, is Arizona. But Virginia doesn't sound enviable either.
The places I would RATHER move to are where labor unions are fighting for their lives.
I think the idea of moving the services into general practice offices is probably best, but I'd still really love to see a fundraising effort that helps even just a couple clinics meet the new requirements. Then we'd get to see the Governor and Attorney General's true colors. It would end up being similar to Scott Walker saying the decision to end collective bargaining was about the budget....until it suddenly wasn't. In Virginia, I'm sure the new facility requirements are ostensibly about health and safety concerns, not prohibiting abortions. So let's make a couple of those facilities "safe" and see what happens.
All this reminds me of Nature Conservancy. Legislators who hate the notion of setting aside land for permanent protection have a harder time saying environmentalists aren't entitled to the land if they paid the asking price. It may still make them mad that it can't be developed, but they certainly can't say the way it was acquired was anything but free enterprise. So if a couple clinics met the new requirements, they would either have to let them operate or admit the decision had nothing to do with building codes....and then pay them back for all the renovations.
But look on the bright side--production of coat hangars will skyrocket, and dark alleys will become populated!