* Virginia Abortion Clinic Rules Get Final Approval

* Virginia abortion clinic regulations get final approval

* Virginia abortion clinic regs get final approval

* Abortion regulations get final approval

* Virginia Board of Health Passes Tighter Abortion Clinic Standards

* Virginia Board OKs Regulations That Could Close Abortion Clinics

* Board of Health Approves Abortion Clinic Regulations (Video)

Board Of Health Finalizes Abortion Center Regulations!

Inspections Uncover Violations of State Law in Abortion Center

Media Ignores Alleged Child Killer

Why Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s Trial Should Be a Front-Page Story

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror

Can You Imagine the Coverage If It Were Dogs?

Abortion debate inflamed by horrific details in trial of Philadelphia doctor

Garrett seeks inquiry into McAuliffe venture

Down-ballot candidates in Virginia score points by attacking Cuccinelli, McAuliffe

7 seek Republican nomination for Virginia lieutenant governor ahead of May convention

Cuccinelli raises half of McAuliffe’s total during period that included Virginia legislative session

McAuliffe reports $5.1 million, Cuccinelli $2.4 million at campaign finance deadline

Four attorney general candidates hit the nomination home stretch

Of course, Planned Parenthood and NARAL are counting on your silence. If there’s any doubt as to what their ultimate, ghastly aims are, please see this video of a Planned Parenthood lobbyist.

Please do all you can to join us Friday and show that we are the voice of Virginia. We must show the Board of Health that we are pro-life and we are the majority! This could be a seminal day in the pro-life movement in Virginia.

By voting to adopt the standards tomorrow, the Board will ensure that Virginia’s abortion centers will be required to meet basic health and safety standards and will no longer be protected by a veil of secrecy. Showing up and voicing your support of these new standards is extremely important in the fight for life as it is crucial the Board see and hear from pro-life Virginians when deciding on final passage of the regulations.

Please plan to join us tomorrow and forward this link to your pro-life friends and share it on your social media sites. Plan to arrive at the Perimeter Center (9960 Mayland Drive, Richmond, 23233) at 7:00 a.m. (earlier if possible) to prevent pro-abortion activists from filling the room and silencing your voice. Seating is very limited, so not everyone will be able to get into the meeting, which is why it’s important to arrive early. We encourage you to bring a handmade sign showing your support for life. The public comment period will be in the morning, so if you want to speak in support of the regulations, please prepare a two-minute testimony (you cannot testify if you are not in the room, so you have to be there early to get in line). A final vote will likely take place after lunch, and the meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 3:00.

For a list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Board meeting, click here. Please contact The Family Foundation if you have additional questions (804-343-0010 or vafamily@familyfoundation.org).

The regulations, passed by the Board this past September, would promote safer conditions in Virginia abortion centers, resulting in a higher level of respect and dignity for the women who make the unfortunate choice to get an abortion. Since the announced inspections of Virginia’s 20 abortion centers, more than 100 health violations have been discovered. Some of these include:

» Blood-stained tables and equipment

» Unsterilized equipment

» Untrained staff members

» Crucial parts missing from emergency life-saving equipment

You can read more about the grisly findings here.

Voicing your support of these new standards is imperative. Please join us at the Board of Health meeting in Richmond tomorrow. Do not let NARAL and Planned Parenthood speak for Virginians in your silence. Make it known that Virginia is a pro-life state!

Of course, if you cannot attend the meeting, please take time today and tomorrow to pray for the meeting, the outcome, the Board members and for the safety and protection of pro-life activists in attendance.

There was, of course, a Board of Health meeting last September, where we mobilized a terrific turnout as the Board voted to pass the standards, so there may be some confusion as to why it is meeting again and why we another turnout of pro-life Virginians. Quite simply, the regulatory process is arduous, consisting of many votes, executive branch review, and public comment periods. So while we considered the September vote a major success, we cannot let up until the standards are completely finalized by the Board.

Showing up and voicing your support of these new standards is extremely important in the fight for life. It is crucial the Board see and hear from pro-life Virginians when deciding on final passage of the safety standards. We must show the Board of Health that we are pro-life and we are the majority.

Please plan to join us this Friday, April 12. Please forward this link to your pro-life friends and share it on your social media sites.

Plan to arrive at the Perimeter Center (9960 Mayland Drive, Richmond, Va. 23233) at 7:00 a.m. to prevent pro-abortion activists from filling the room and silencing your voice. Seating is very limited, so not everyone will be able to get into the meeting. That’s why it’s important to arrive early. We encourage you to bring a handmade sign showing your support for life. There is likely to be a public comment period, so if you want to speak in support of the regulations, please prepare a two-minute testimony. The meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 3:00 p.m. Depending on when the vote is held, it may become a day-long event.

For a list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Board meeting, click here. Please contact The Family Foundation if you have additional questions (804-343-0010 or vafamily@familyfoundation.org).

The safety standards, as passed by the Board last September, would promote safer conditions in Virginia abortion centers, resulting in a higher level of respect and dignity for the women who make the unfortunate choice to get an abortion. Since the announced inspections of Virginia’s 20 abortion centers — inspections that were part of the temporary rules passed by the Board, and the first inspections of abortion centers in decades — more than 100 health violations have been discovered. Some of these include:

» Blood-stained tables and vials

» Unsterilized equipment

» Untrained staff members

» Crucial parts missing from emergency life-saving equipment

The Family Foundation recently released new violations that have been found just since June. One report from the Roanoke Medical Center states that:

Staff used . . . a sponge to clean the procedure jars and failed to disinfect procedure jars and stoppers between patients . . . failure to disinfect three (3) of three recovery cots between patients and one (1) of one lab chair . . . observation revealed one of the vacutainer needle holders had visible dark red splatter within the hub, which attached to the needle to draw the patient’s blood.

This is just one example of why these standards are needed more than ever. Americans expect to undergo a medical procedure in a sterile environment with trained doctors and nurses. Why is the same standard not met for women who choose abortion?

Voicing your support of these new standards is imperative! Please join us at the Board of Health meeting in Richmond on April 12. Do not let NARAL and Planned Parenthood speak for you in your silence!

Click here to visit the Virginia Board of Health’s Online Townhall. It is easy and take little time to submit your comments.

Our friends at the Virginia Catholic Conference have more information here, including bullet points on the issue and a sample letter. 

It only takes a few minutes to compose and submit comments online. For those who could not make it to the public forums in Richmond and Alexandria earlier this month, this is the ideal method for making your voice heard. A few minutes of your time can make a difference in a generational switch in policy to benefit the unborn and the safety of women who make the unfortunate choice of having an abortion. The other side is mobilized and submitting comments. It is essential that pro-life Virginians make their voices heard as well in this convenient, yet very effective way.

After filing your comments, please consider attending the Board of Health meeting in Richmond on Friday, April 12, where it will vote on whether to adopt the current abortion center safety standards permanently. Pro-life Virginians must demonstrate strength in numbers, both online and in person. The meeting will be at the Virginia Department of Health 2nd Floor Conference Center, 9960 Mayland Drive in Richmond. It will begin at 9:00 a.m. Due to limited space inside the meeting room, those who wish to attend are highly encouraged to arrive by 7:00.

The safety standards, which improve upon the emergency temporary standards that have been in place for more than a year, will continue to protect Virginia women who use abortion centers. Health inspections of these facilities, a feature of the current  temporary standards, have uncovered hundreds of violations since they  have been in place — demonstrating that the commonwealth’s abortion industry cannot self-regulate itself. Permanent standards will ensure abortion centers’ accountability for deficiencies.

If you plan to attend the Board of Health meeting, please e-mail Roger Pogge at roger@familyfoundation.org or call (804) 343-oo10.

Life isn’t only a beautiful choice, it’s the only honest choice.

Click here and then click “Enter a Comment” to post a comment and ensure that the voice of pro-life Virginians is heard loud and clear!

The standards, passed by the Virginia Board of Health in September, now will go through a 60 day public comment period. After that, the board will vote again, likely in March, before the standards go back through more review. Currently, emergency health and safety standards similar to the final permanent standards are in effect.

Earlier this year, The Family Foundation examined inspection documents obtained from the Department of Health through the Freedom of Information Act that found more than 80 health and safety violations in only nine of Virginia’s 20 abortion centers. The violations included bloody examination tables, unsterilized and outdated medical equipment, untrained staff and more. The abortion centers have received licensing under condition of correcting all the violations found.

Today, we released to the media newly discovered violations at the other abortion centers inspected since June. Incredibly, even after the discoveries of so many violations at abortion centers earlier in the year, the abortion industry did not clean up its act. For example, at one center in Falls Church, according to the inspection reports:

. . . dark reddish substance on the inner surface of the hub where the vacutainer tube for blood collection attached … Staff #8 was asked to observe the inner surface of each vacutainer he/she had designated as clean. Staff #8 stated “That looks like blood. They aren’t clean.” An observation was conducted in Procedure room #1 at 11:16 a.m., with Staff #8. Staff #8 reported the room was ready for the procedures scheduled for the day. The observation revealed the procedure table had visible dried blood on the metal joints (Bilaterally) that connected the metal leg stirrup/supports.

At the Alexandria abortion center:

On 7/19/12 the following observations were made: the attending physician was sitting at a desk reading the newspaper. He put the paper away when the patient arrived. The physician interviewed the patient. The staff escorted the patient to the exam room. The physician went into the room. … The physician put on gloves and preceded to perform a vaginal ultrasound of the patient. Once the procedure had been completed the physician told the patient to get dressed and he would see her outside the exam room. … The physician picked up the patient’s medical record and began to make notations. He removed a prescription pad from a drawer. At no time was the physician observed washing his hands or performing hand hygiene. The observations were pointed out to the physician who stated, “I was not doing a procedure only an ultrasound. If I had been doing a procedure I certainly would have washed my hands.” The above information was discussed with the administrator who stated, “He never washes his hands, he always uses gloves.” When it was pointed out that sometimes the gloves may have holes in them the administrator stated, “Oh! That is gross!”

At the Roanoke Medical Center for Women abortion center, the inspection reports found:

Staff used . . . a sponge to clean the procedure jars and failed to disinfect procedure jars and stoppers between patients . . .  failure to disinfect three (3) of three recovery cots between patients and one (1) of one lab chair . . . observation revealed one of the vacutainer needle holders had visible dark red splatter within the hub, which attached to the needle to draw the patient’s blood.

While focusing on the construction standards included in the health and safety standards, the media has almost completely ignored the blood stained and unsterilized equipment, along with all the other health and safety violations. The construction standards are necessary to improve access for emergency personnel and equipment when medical emergencies take place, but the rest of the standards are basic to any medical facility that puts its patients ahead of its profits.

With the discovery of dozens of health and safety violations through the initial announced inspections of abortion centers, the need for these standards became even clearer. The billion dollar abortion industry simply cannot be trusted to put patient safety ahead of profit. While the regulatory process isn’t complete, the steps taken to this point have made Virginia’s abortion centers a little safer for the women facing unplanned pregnancies who make the unfortunate decision to end the life of their unborn child.

Please don’t remain silent and in your silence allow abortion advocates to speak for you! Click here and then click “Enter a Comment” to post a comment in support of the abortion center health safety regulations!

Campaigns once were the place to educate the electorate about issues and sway voters to one side or another. Now, regular voters are so polarized, campaigns are nothing more than a race to identify the voters who mostly agree with either candidate and get those people to the polls. But by educating people in the absence of the vitriol of an election campaign, and instilling a sense of the proper culture, we can do more for our commonwealth and country than $100 million in television ads.

One way we try to do that is through our Pastors for Family Values ministry. During the fall, we hosted our annual Pastors Summit. It already has produced fruit and we are excited about how long lasting the impact will be on Virginia. More than 400 pastors ministry leaders attended and left Richmond motivated, informed and encouraged to be culturally engaged.

The summit, co-hosted by CitizenLink, featured Del Tackett. Dr. Tackett, a former Air Force officer and architect of The Truth Project, was superb in his two speaking sessions, tracing the origins of modern skepticism and presenting a contrast between the God-focus of a Biblical worldview and the self-focus of the secular humanist worldview that is common in the emerging generation. A man of remarkable insight and discernment with a gift for teaching, Dr. Tackett showed how the modern concepts of heart and mind differ from the Biblical view and what implications that has for the core beliefs that shape our thought and actions. It was a clarion call for pastors to affirm a Biblical worldview in such a way that it becomes a transformational belief at the center of who we are.

Pastors also heard from Erik Stanley, senior counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, about their rights as pastors to speak out on issues and on ADF’s “pulpit initiative.” ADF is seeking pastors with the boldness to ignore the threats of intimidation by the IRS, and the likes of Mr. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and try to force the IRS to go to court over its attempts to limit free speech. Former U.S. Representative Bob McEwen of Ohio wooed the group with his analysis of the state of the government and its threats to our liberty.

At a separate evening event, Dr. Tackett addressed a crowd of nearly 500 at Richmond’s Grove Avenue Baptist Church, where he talked about the inevitability of consequences to our actions, and the fact that acts based on truth bring better outcomes than those based on our emotional decision.

Pastors, and attendees at the evening event, were incredibly motivated. In fact, several pastors attended the Virginia Board of Health meeting the following morning after being motivated to take action at the summit. We are still hearing about pastors around Virginia who have gone back to their churches and are boldly speaking on cultural issues and the necessity of action by the church in Virginia! There is no doubt that this year’s summit will have a lasting impact on the culture of Virginia.

We appreciate all the pastors, ministry leaders and individuals who attended the Summit and the evening with Dr. Tackett. We pray that all who attended were blessed in a unique way and that the excitement and motivation of these events, and others we are planning and which will take place in the near future, will last long into the future. Because long after campaigns are distant memories, long after office holders names are forgotten, the day-to-day efforts needed to educate, motivate and shape the culture will continue to be necessary.

We long ago tried to change the terminology because “clinics” are places people go to get well. Many pro-life organizations and individuals have picked up on this and now also refer to them as “centers.” More and more people and new media outlets also have changed their phrasing. Anything but “clinics.” It was gratifying, then, to see that the State Board of Health agrees. In its official terminology, on materials distributed to media and board members, it refers to such places as “facilities,” just as it was reflected in the attorney general’s memo and news release in the previous post.

At the well publicized Board of Health meeting two weeks ago, a spokesperson for the department said it another way when I asked her about it, but the premise was the same: Since these places do not treat people for sickness or injury, they are not referred to as “clinics,” but rather as “facilities.” Still, the Mainstream Media, which proclaims no bias or agenda, but objective reporting, swallows the abortion industry language in order to provide a false impression of what goes on at these centers — and not the official medical branding of these facilities.

What has been the refrain from the pro-abortion side throughout this entire debate? “Stick with the medicine”? Thank you. We are.

Attorney general certifies abortion facilities regulations 

RICHMOND (September 26, 2012) – Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office sent notice today to Dr. Karen Remley, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Health, that it has certified that the Board of Health had the statutory authority under Virginia law to adopt the abortion facilities regulations it adopted at its September 14 meeting. The office also certified that the proposed regulations are constitutional and do not conflict with existing federal or state laws or regulations. A copy of the letter is here.

After executive branch review, if the governor approves the regulations, they will be published by registrar of regulations for a 60-day comment period, then they will return to the Board of Health for final consideration.

The referenced letter, dubbed a “Memorandum,” on the AG’s letterhead, reads as such in its entirety:

MEMORANDUM

TO: Dr. Karen Remley

Commissioner

Virginia Department of Health

FROM: Allyson K. Tysinger

Senior Assistant Attorney General/Chief

Health Services Section

DATE: September 25, 2012

SUBJECT: Regulations for Licensure of Hospitals in Virginia

12 VAC 5-410-10 et seq.

Regulations for Licensure of

12 VAC 5-412-10 et seq.

I have reviewed the proposed amendments to the Regulations for Licensure of Hospitals in Virginia, 12 VAC 5-410-10 et seq., and the proposed Regulations for Licensure of Abortion Facilities, 12 VAC 5-412-10 et seq., that were adopted by the State Board of Health on September 14, 2012. The Board has the statutory authority to adopt these Regulations under Virginia Code § 32.1-12 and § 32.1-127. The proposed Regulations are constitutional and do not conflict with existing federal or state laws or regulations.

The bikers will form at the Richmond Outreach Center at 5501 Midlothian Turnpike in Richmond beginning at 10:30 a.m. There will be a brief program beginning at noon, with speakers Kim Warburton of the Pregnancy Resource Center of Metro Richmond; Michael Hirsch, pastor of Calvary Christian Church in Fredericksburg; and myself. The bikes will then ride from the ROC to downtown Richmond, down Bank Street in front of the state Capitol, and then around Capitol Square.

If you are in the area and have time to come out to the ROC or wave at the bikers as they ride by the Capitol, please come out and join us!

Help Identify Conservative Voters!

Also tomorrow, The Family Foundation Action will join in a concerted, nation-wide effort to call undecided voters and to remind them that with gas prices approaching $4 per gallon, unemployment over 8 percent and the national debt at $16 trillion, we need a change in the economic policy of the nation. If you live in the N.Va., Richmond, Harrisonburg or Tidewater area, please join us at one of the phone banks listed below. We will have food, good fellowship, prizes and lots of fun.

Fairfax County: Javier Road, Suite 110, Merrifield, 22031, 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. (or later if anyone wants to stay). Contact Ed Newland at 515-505-5383.

Loudoun County: 44084 Riverside Parkway, Suite 350, Lansdowne, 20176-6823, 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. Contact William Zimmerman at 703-568-4092.

Prince William County: 17323 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Suite L-1, Dumfries, 22026. Contact: Bill Pfister for times at 515-505-5209.

James City County: 7770 Croaker Road, Williamsburg, 23188 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Contact: Tim Pogge at 515-505-5224.

York County: 4521 George Washington Memorial Highway, Yorktown, 23692, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Contact: Tim Pogge at 515-505-5224.

Harrisonburg: Blessings Christian Bookstore, 313 Neff Avenue, Harrisonburg, 22801 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Contact: Greg Culbertson at 505-515-5280

Richmond: 10:00 – 12:00 noon, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., various locations. Contact: Ron Gallagher for locations at 804-591-5909.

 

Paid for by The Family Foundation Action.