VA Abortion Clinics to be Licensed

In what’s being called a victory for women’s safety, all abortion clinics in Virginia will be required to be licensed by the state and to meet the same building standards that apply to new hospitals.

In 2011, the Virginia Legislature passed a law concerning minimum standards for new hospitals related to “construction and maintenance; operation, staffing and equipping; staff qualifications and training; as well as requirements for policies related to infection prevention, disaster preparedness, and facility security.”

Virginia’s abortion clinics have come under increased scrutiny in light of recent media reports of clinics storing the remains of aborted children in freezers and failing to clean blood splatters on operating tables between procedures.