Cuccinelli's me first agenda

October 26, 2012

The Virginian-Pilot editorializes, "Political power often tempts elected officials to overreach, but rarely does the abuse of authority cause the kind of injury Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's has inflicted on the state Board of Health. The board is by law independent. It is authorized to draft regulations. Last month, however, it caved to Cuccinelli's demands to reverse a decision that would have exempted existing abortion clinics from a 2011 law that requires such facilities to meet hospital construction requirements. The board's reversal will likely require most of the 20 clinics across the commonwealth to undertake expensive renovations to comply with new architectural standards or to be shut down. That is the real goal of Cuccinelli and the anti-abortion activists behind the law."

Progressive Point: Our Attorney General should be protecting our families, enforcing the law, and advocating for consumers. But Ken Cuccinelli has prioritized his own political career over Virginia families. He's abused his power as Attorney General and misinterpreted the law to further his crusade against women's reproductive freedom, climate science, equal workplace protections, and much more.

There's a reason Virginia has a tradition of Attorneys General resigning to run for Governor: using the office to wage a political campaign is unethical and a waste of taxpayer resources. Virginians, not his political career, should be Cuccinelli's first priority.

Get the Facts:

• Dr. Karen Remley, former health commissioner, told Governor McDonnell "she could not 'in good faith' run the Health Department and carry out new regulations--mandated by the legislature, approved by McDonnell and muscled into place by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli--that compel the state's 20 abortion clinics to comport themselves as hospitals." (Richmond Times-Dispatch, October 21, 2012)


• The 2011 legislation, signed by Gov. McDonnell, singles out women's health centers that provide abortions and forces them to comply with hospital standards. No other outpatient clinic in Virginia, including those performing oral and cosmetic surgery, are forced to adhere to these standards. The underlying purpose is to force clinic closure through requiring unaffordable construction. (Washington Post, July 27, 2012)


• In addition to family planning services, Virginia's women's health clinics provide life-saving cancer screenings and health care services like STD screenings. (ProgressVA, June 14, 2012)


• Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and Bob McDonnell's party platform "salutes" Virginia's new anti-abortion legislation that originally required women to undergo a trans-vaginal ultrasound probe if they sought to pursue their constitutionally protected right to choose. (Washington Post, August 21, 2012)

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