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Virginia ASCs not the standard for abortion clinics

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, February 22, 2005

Despite the urging of abortion opponents, abortion clinics in Virginia will not have to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) after a bill to require similar standards was defeated.

"The cost to clinics would be overwhelming, which is the purpose of this deceitful legislation," said Wendy Klein, an obstetrician/gynecologist and associate professor of internal medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, in a story issued by the Associated Press (AP).

Klein went on to say that the bill, house bill 2784, would put clinics out of business and "return us to the dark days of back-alley abortions."

Clinics are presently regulated like physician's offices, with no regular inspections by the state and no reporting requirements. Supporters of the bill hoped to raise the abortion clinic standards because of a fear of complications in the clinics.

"We have to take the word of those who profit from these procedures that everything is fine," said Victoria Cobb, executive director of the Family Foundation of Virginia, in the AP story.

To view the bill, click here.

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