Virginia’s Board of Health reversed abortion regulations on Friday, voting to impose strict building standards on abortion clinics that would shutter at least 15 of the state’s 20 clinics.
The Board of Health had initially exempted existing clinics from the regulations, but buckled under pressure from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II and Governor Bob McDonnell and threatening that Board members might incur personal legal fees if they did not comply.
“In a really important swing state, this is Republican governance at work. And it’s not exactly a triumph of small “c” Conservatism,” said Rachel Maddow on The Rachel Maddow Show on Friday. “This is really big government using mountains of red tape, in a targeted way, to shut down specific small businesses to get the government’s chosen outcome in a medical decision you’re supposed to make yourself.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Mitt Romney is attempting to rally women voters, surrounding himself with women at a campaign event in Fairfax, VA on Thursday.
“Virginia are seeing time and time again Republicans cling to an extreme right and bully an independent agency like they did today” said Charniele L. Herring, a Virginia Democratic delegate and the Reproductive Health Caucus Chair. “I’m hearing from women from both sides of the aisle saying the Republican Party has gone too far — I can’t vote for Mitt Romney, I can’t vote for Paul Ryan.”
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