Will Virginia shut down most of its abortion clinics?

Gov. Robert McDonnell (R-Va.) has said he will sign a bill that would force abortion clinics to be as regulated as hospitals, rendering some of them inoperable.

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last updated 8 January 2015

Anti-abortion legislators in Virginia scored a "major victory" last week by passing regulations that could shutter as many as 17 of the state's 21 abortion clinics. The new rules regulate abortion clinics as hospitals rather than as doctors' offices, according to The Washington Post. Supporters say that will make abortions safer, but critics argue it will only drive facilities out of business by requiring them to make "cost-prohibitive" renovations. Are Virginia's lawmakers just being responsible by setting higher standards — or is this just an attempt to strike a blow against abortion rights?

This is about safety: This law will protect women's health, says Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation of Virginia, as quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The regulations required by this law would simply "ensure that these centers are safe for the women who make the unfortunate choice of abortion."

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Come on. This is clearly about limiting abortions: Calling this a safety measure is "hogwash," says Clay Jones at Fredericksburg.com. This law is about shutting down "as many clinics as possible" and making it harder for women who want legal abortions to get them. The good news for abortion rights advocates is that the law appears to be unconstitutional, and would probably be struck down in court.

"Virginia abortion rules"

Clinics will find a way to stay open: Of course the measure "is motivated by hostility toward abortion," but that is "largely irrelevant," say the editors of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Business leaders always complain when new regulations are handed down, and yet "time after time, they have found a way to live with the rules." Virginia's abortion clinics will find a way to survive as well.

"Abortion clinics: crackdown"