Abortion Clinic May Face Council Regulation

"We don't do abortions over the first trimester. That is why everybody gets a sonogram before we do the procedure. We comply with the 24-hour waiting period. We comply with the parental consent," VanDerWoude said. She also said the clinic provides counseling and support services before and after abortions.

The City Council's options to enact regulations and guidelines covering the clinic are narrow. Such options might include changing the definition of a hospital to include any medical facility performing 25 abortions or more per year, or requiring current and future clinics to meet standards for outpatient surgical hospitals, including elevators and other architectural changes.

Similarly worded legislation has passed the House of Delegates several times but has been killed by the Senate.

"As one legislator said on the floor of the House years ago, 'We don't have to make abortion illegal, we can just make it impossible,' " said David Nova, vice president of Planned Parenthood Health Systems. Nova said his organization will be watching the Manassas committee to prevent health centers being "forced to close due to over-regulation or targeted regulation."

Targeted regulations on abortion clinics are being attempted across the country, said Jennifer Blasdell, the director of public policy for the National Abortion Federation. "Regulations such as these are calculated to chip away at abortion access under the guise of legitimate regulation."

Blasdell said that in addition to architectural standards, some proposed regulations include stipulating what medical professionals should be on staff and assigning duties to them, requiring patient evaluations that may not be medically necessary, and allowing state inspectors access to patient records.

Aveni said he would like to follow regulations that were adopted in South Carolina. Those regulations withstood a court challenge in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Virginia.

Council member Jonathan L. Way (R), who had warned against passing a draft resolution stipulating guidelines, said he wants the committee to have "technically competent people and not position advocates" to establish a need and identify constitutional boundaries. He also wants to see "meaningful" regulations that are in the best interest of city residents.

Aveni had originally included guidelines in his resolution but backtracked to let the committee study the issue. The results of the study are due in March.

Clinic owner VanDerWoude said she has been in the medical field for 40 years and doesn't need to work anymore, "but I do it out of compassion for patients." She said she is not intimidated by the city and plans to fight. "Some people, their way of thinking is very primitive," she said.