Prince William County, Va., Resolution Supports Stricter Rules For Abortion Clinics

Last Tuesday, the six Republican members of the Prince William County, Va., Board of County Supervisors officially endorsed state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's (R) recent legal opinion that the state can impose stricter regulations on clinics offering first trimester abortion services, the Washington Post reports (Buske, Washington Post, 10/31). In August, Cuccinelli concluded that the state Board of Health can require abortion clinics to meet the same standards as hospitals. Abortion-rights advocates say the change could force 17 of the state's 21 abortion clinics to close due to the financial burden of meeting the new requirements.

During an Oct. 26 meeting, the six supervisors approved a resolution calling on Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) to direct the state Boards of Health and Medicine to publish and implement regulations for the abortion clinics and providers. The panel's two Democratic members abstained from voting on the resolution. Supervisor Frank Principi said, "I don't think it is appropriate for the board to act on a state and federal matter despite the fact I am a pro-life advocate," adding that it is "totally inappropriate to act on this."

Although there are no abortion clinics in Prince William County, Supervisor John Stirrup, who introduced the resolution, said that "it would be ignorant not to recognize" that county residents visit a facility in nearby Manassas. Stirrup added that the resolution "deals with one thing and one thing only, and that is the protection of women's health."

Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, said the Manassas clinic -- Amethyst Health Center for Women -- has been in operation for more than 20 years and serves nearly 1,200 patients annually. Saporta added that the clinic is regulated by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments program and NAF (Washington Post, 10/31).

On Oct. 4, the Manassas, Va., City Council passed a resolution supporting Cucinelli's legal opinion (Women's Health Policy Report, 10/5).

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Three States To Cast Ballots On Health Insurance Mandate; Others Consider Abortion And Marijuana Questions

News outlets report on health care ballot initiatives in today's election.

"Voters in three states will cast ballots Tuesday on the new healthcare law's individual mandate to buy insurance," The Hill reports. "Arizona and Oklahoma are expected to pass the state constitutional amendment, but it faces an uphill battle in Colorado. The measure on the ballot in Arizona and Oklahoma is modeled after legislation drafted by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council. It says the states' citizens can't be forced to participate in a public or private health plan, can choose to pay a doctor directly for medical services and can't be forced to pay a fine for not having insurance." Missouri voted to adopt a similar measure during the primary. "Legal experts say the measures are just for show because states can't ignore federal law. But proponents say they send a clear message to politicians and give the states standing in challenging the new law in federal court" (Pecquet, 11/1).

Related, earlier KHN coverage: 3 States To Vote On Health Insurance Mandate (Miles, 10/30).

CNN: "There are 160 ballot measures going before voters in 37 states Tuesday. That's slightly more than the 2008 election, but down from 2006. ... California is considering legalizing marijuana possession for personal use. Arizona, Oregon and South Dakota are considering various measures legalizing or loosening restrictions on marijuana use for medical purposes." Colorado has a measure that would "essentially ban abortion" by amending "the state constitution to define the term 'person' to include 'every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being'" (Yoon, 11/1).

WBUR CommonHealth blog: In Massachusetts, "the ballots in 14 districts will include non-binding questions on whether the state should move to a 'single-payer' system, also known as 'Medicare For All.' Jon Weissman, a spokesman for the single-payer campaign in western Massachusetts, says that 'it's one part of a strategy to put together a legislature that will vote for single-payer.' A single-payer bill has been introduced repeatedly in the legislature for more than a decade, he said, and has always gotten plenty of sponsors, but never passed" (Goldberg, 11/1).

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