Be Afraid, Virginia. Be Very afraid: Virginia Passes Strictest Abortion Regulations in the Nation

The other day I wrote asking where the "good Christians" were in North Carolina as the Christianists and their hate group organization, working with the political whores in the North Carolina Republican Party passed a measure that will put the recognition of same sex relations on the ballot on the day of the 2012 North Carolina GOP primary election. The answer, of course is that most were sitting on their asses since they did not believe the anti-gay measure impacted them. That belief is a fallacy as today's events in Virginia demonstrate. First the Christianists go after the gays as they did here in Virginia in 2006, next it's abortion, and next it will be contraception, religious freedom for non-Christianists and God knows what else. By sitting back until their rights are directly impacted, the "good Christians" and others are allowing the creeping extension of the Christianist version of Sharia law. They need to wake up to the true agenda of Christianists and Christian dominionists and not be fooled by their intentionally deceptive propaganda. The anti-abortion offense here in Virginia - and for the record, I am not a fan of abortion - was couched in terms of "safety" and "protecting women." The real goal, however, was to impose a de facto ban on abortion and stupidly far too many in the general public were played for fools by those who wrap themselves in the Bible even as they lie incessantly. The Virginian Pilot sadly does it usual lazy/sloppy reporting and largely parrots the propaganda of the Christian dominionists at The Family Foundation. Huffington Post has more accurate coverage. Here are highlights:

The Virginia Board of Health passed the most severe abortion clinic regulations in the nation on Thursday, which health advocates say could effectively close down all 22 abortion providers in the state.

The regulations, commissioned by the state legislature and written by the Virginia Department of Health, are largely unrelated to patient health and safety. They would treat abortion clinics as if they are hospitals if the clinics provide five or more first-trimester abortions a month and would enforce architectural design standards that will be almost impossible for most clinics to meet.

For instance, a clinic must have 5-foot-wide hallways, 8-foot-wide areas outside of procedure rooms, specific numbers of toilets and types of sinks and all of the latest requirements for air circulation flow and electrical wiring. Each clinic must also have a parking spot for every bed, despite the fact that first-trimester abortions don't require an overnight stay. Further, Department of Health employees will be allowed to enter an abortion facility at any time without notice or identification.

Virginia Board of Health member Jim Edmundson tried to introduce a number of amendments on Thursday that would lessen the severity of the clinic restrictions and give some facilities a chance to comply. However, all but one of the amendments were rejected without a vote.

The board is not even seconding proposed amendments being offered," said Patrick Hurd, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southeast Virginia, who observed the comment and voting process in Richmond on Thursday. "They're so intimidated by the presence of the attorney general, they're not even allowing these things to come up for a vote."

Health advocates say they are worried that women in Virginia could lose all access to abortions as a result of the new rules, which are scheduled go into effect by Jan. 1.

Kansas passed slightly more lenient regulations earlier this year that would have shut down two out of three of the state's clinics, but they were challenged in court and promptly blocked by a judge.

One major unintended consequence of these regulations is that if Planned Parenthood clinics and other health clinics that provide abortions are forced to shut down, they will be taking all of their other services with them, such as affordable pap smears, breast exams and birth control for low-income men and women.

I understand the need for people to stand and fight the Christianists, but it becomes exhausting and increasingly, I'd like to simply leave this nasty backwater state.