WASHINGTON -
Existing abortion clinics in Virginia won't have to meet the same construction standards as new hospitals after all.
The Virginia Board of Health voted against that provision of some tough new requirements for abortion providers.
The new rules would have required existing abortion clinics to do things like expand the width of hallways, increase the size of operating rooms and provide covered entrances and more parking.
The operator of a clinic in Falls Church said it would have cost up to a million dollars to make those changes.
Critics of those costly requirements say they were meant to force abortion providers out of business.
"Those regulations stipulate all kinds of facilities requirements that doctors have said repeatedly were unnecessary for the health and safety of women," says Dr. Laura Meyers, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington DC. "These regulations were really about politics."
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was backing the rules for all clinics, which also had the support of Governor Bob McDonnell.
But the Virginia Board of Health ignored their recommendation and voted against the most controversial of the proposals that would have included existing abortion clinics.
The rules that remain will only apply to new clinics seeking to operate in the state.
"We're encouraged by the fact that there was public outcry and Virginians clearly said they had overreached in terms of politicizing women's health," Dr. Meyers says.
