HENRICO, Va. (WTVR)—Group plans large silent protest on Friday against vote to advance state abortion regulations.
The group #OpposeTRAP says that if these regulations proposed by Governor McDonnell’s administration are passed, that the rules will become the most restrictive state abortion regulations in the country–threatening to end access to critical cancer screenings, annual care, and access to safe and legal first-trimester abortion for thousands of Virginia women.
The press release for the group said that the regulations go against the recommendations of medical professionals.
On Friday, June 15, the Virginia Board of Health will vote on the proposed permanent regulations of women’s health care centers.
The group, #OpposeTRAP, will be joining with other groups to host a demonstration outside the Board of Health meeting, at the Perimeter Center, 9960 Mayland Drive.
The protesters plan to line the entry sidewalks in silence, as did the silent protesters at the Capitol on February 20, 2012, in protest of the Personhood and Ultrasound bills.
The protesters are asking in the interest of Commonwealth citizens that the regulations be amended and allow abortion providers to be regulated like other clinical procedures.
They also ask that these facilities be grandfathered “as they always have for all other medical facilities in the Commonwealth.”
The group said that instituting the grandfather clause would allow existing clinics to remain open, saying the new requirements are expensive and could potentially close 20 of the state’s 23 clinics.
The protest will begin at 7:30 a.m. Friday, in Henrico at the Perimeter Center, 9960 Mayland Drive.
