Photo by Rachel Sadon.
At the end of the month, the Amethyst Health Center for Women in Manassas, Va. will close its doors for good, meaning that there will only be four abortion providers left in Northern Virginia.
Its closure comes during a tough time for abortion providers in Virginia, after former Governor Bob McDonnell introduced new regulations—”Rules and Regulations for the Licensure of Hospitals in Virginia”—that make it difficult for abortion clinics to remain open.
Though Fox 5 reports that the owner of the Amethyst Health Center for Women said that “providing abortion services to women in Virginia is a ‘sensitive area'”—with people often harassing the clinic—the new regulations is not why she chose to close her business. Rather, she’s retiring.
With the Amethyst Health Center for Women’s looming closure, the three abortion providers left in the area are in Falls Church, Alexandria, and Annandale and the new regulations could threaten their existence. As Fox 5 reports, the new regulations “would force existing clinics to do things like build new hallways, awnings, change their parking lots, build new closets or new ventilation systems,” could rack up quite a hefty bill.
Larry Roberts, an attorney for the Falls Church Healthcare Center, put it bluntly:
“The regulations as they stand threaten to put out of business—many of the women’s health care centers in Virginia. We believe that they were politically motivated and ideologically driven attempts to close health care centers.”
In light of the debate, The State Board of Health voted yesterday to scale back on the regulations outlined in McDonnell’s “Rules and Regulations.” In a statement, now-Governor Terry McAuliffe applauded the Board of Health’s decision.
“This Commonwealth should be a leader in bringing people together and building a new Virginia economy,” he said in a statement. “Not in partisan crusades against women’s rights.”
Correction: This post mistakenly said there were only three abortion clinics left in Northern Virginia. There are, in fact, four.
