( – promoted by lowkell)
Hundreds to rally in support of reproductive health care and abortion rights in Richmond next Saturday
Governor Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli think they’re about to get away with restricting reproductive freedom in Virginia under the radar. On Saturday, October 15 in Richmond, women’s health advocates and citizens will Rally for Women’s Health with one simple message: the War on Virginia Women ends now.
The Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health will gather with hundreds of supporters near the state Capitol on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at 1 p.m. to ask lawmakers to stop attacks on women’s reproductive health and rights. We’ll let them know that Virginia – and the nation – is watching, and that we won’t stand by while politically-motivated regulations on abortion providers drastically restrict Virginia women’s access to safe, legal abortion and other reproductive health care.
Rally for Women’s Health
Saturday, October 15, 2011, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Monroe Park, 620 West Main Street, Richmond, VA 23220
We’ll hear from medical professionals and operators of women's health centers who would be affected by these regulations; patients of Virginia women's health centers; present and former Virginia lawmakers, such as Del. Charniele Herring and former Del. Katherine Waddell; and representatives from the faith community, youth organizations and health advocacy groups. Special guests will include Eleanor Smeal, current president of the Feminist Majority Foundation and an iconic leader in the fight for women's reproductive rights and health, and other speakers to be announced.
Participants are encouraged to pre-register for more information and updates. Buses for attendees will be coming from locations in Central/SW Virginia (Blacksburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville), Northern Virginia (Vienna, Springfield, Fredericksburg), and Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, Hampton, Williamsburg).
When Governor McDonnell signed new anti-abortion legislation into law last spring, he reclassified women's health centers in Virginia as a category of hospital, subjecting them to new burdensome, medically unnecessary regulations not required of other doctors providing similar outpatient procedures.
In a shocking display of politics, last month the Board of Health chose to ignore sound science and failed to protect patient interests, including access to health care and patient confidentiality. They voted to advance medically inappropriate regulations after the Attorney General’s office unilaterally hijacked the deliberations of the Board of Health to push its own political agenda.
The onerous regulations would likely require every women’s health center in the state to make extensive architectural modifications that have no proven medical benefit to patients and threaten the continued availability of safe, legal first-trimester abortion.
The long-term effects on women’s health may be devastating: reproductive health centers often provide a full array of safe, affordable preventive health care. Regulations may drive up health care costs or drive health care providers out of practice – serving as a backdoor ban on abortion in the Commonwealth and making comprehensive preventive reproductive health care less accessible across the state.
Supporters will rally in Richmond on October 15 to tell lawmakers that these attacks hurt women and must be stopped. We hope to see you there!
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