Upcoming Event in Fairfax City: “Women’s Health Matters on Main Street!”

Here’s some background on this event from Catherine S. Read; check it out! (also see More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Fairfax City Ordinance Covering Women’s Health Clinics  for my discussion with then-Fairfax City Council member Dan Drummond.

The Fairfax City Council passed a regulation on July 9, 2013 that categorizes a women’s health clinic providing abortion services as a “medical facility” requiring a “special use permit” in order to establish a clinic here. When pressed as to what a “medical facility” includes, apparently it’s a category of ONE – since the only example they could identify is a clinic providing abortion services. The zoning consultants hired to “review and recommend” changes to the city’s entire zoning ordinance are not recommending that the existing ordinance be changed and apparently our Mayor has no intention of changing it. The City of Manassas passed a similar zoning ordinance in April of this year citing Fairfax City’s zoning ordinance as a precedent.

It’s imperative to raise the level of awareness about how local governments are politicizing the establishment of women’s health clinics by passing these regulations that put it to a vote of the city council and open the debate to the public. We would love it if you could be there. I’ve attached a flyer with the information and there is also a link online to RSPV.