Virginia BoH Agrees 13-2 to move forward with revisions to TRAP! A Big Win.
APV was founded nearly four years ago in response to the General Assembly’s last minute passage of TRAP (Targeted Regulations against Abortion Providers). If these onerous and medically pointless regulations had been allowed to remain in place they would, as they were intended to do, have closed most of Virginia’s women’s health clinics that performed more than five abortions a month. From the get go, this was bare-knuckled power politics and to the credit of the Pro Choice community and the many individual women and men who stood firm for reproductive rights, we rose to the challenge and lobbied, mobilized, campaigned and marched until today when we won a major victory. Today the Virginia Board of Health agreed by a wide margin to revisit key issues with the regulations.
“The six areas of clinic regulations proposed for change include provisions covering parental consent, medical testing, anesthesia, administration, storage and dispensing of drugs, emergency services and facility design and construction.” Richmond Times Dispatch
APV President Scott Price said after the Board’s vote today.
“APV has testified, written, marched and organized in the hope of overturning the most egregious portions of this very flawed original legislation, and we are very happy to see the Board side with us today, but this is not the end: the law remains on the books and the anti-women, anti choice agenda is if anything stronger today in the legislature than it was four years ago. We will remain vigilant and we will continue to voice our Progressive values on this issue. There is plenty of praise to go around here and we are glad to be one of the many groups that worked to make this happen, it was the right descion… finally”
Va. Board of Health backs move to amend abortion clinic rules
A Win at City Council and a Win for the City
“We hope that this would be a sign that the mayor is seeing the light here,” says Scott Price with Alliance for Progressive Values. Channel 8 News
Tonight Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones withdrew his official plan to construct a baseball stadium in the historic Shockoe Bottom district of the city. APV has lobbied constantly in opposition to what we feel is a vaguely explained, poorly thought out, potential white elephant that would sit on top of some of the most sensitive and important archeological sites in Virginia and in fact America, the site of a major slave market through which the ancestors of a significant portion of all current African Americans may have passed.
This weekend 5 of the 9 City Council members indicated that they would vote against the proposal which has been light on details and heavy on pressure. We want to thank the Council members who had the courage to ask hard questions and stand their ground when it would have been easier to give in. For the last half year the mayor has pushed hard for this plan that features noncompetitive contracts, ex-felon developers (guilty of bribing former members of this same City Council), suspect numbers and no articulated plan to address traffic, parking or other basic issues.
We worked hard to stop this proposal in its tracks and we can claim a real victory here, but the mayor has made it clear that he has no intention of backing down and aims to come back with the same ballpark venture once he has got his talking points in order. APV opposes the current plan and we will be here to closely scrutinize any new developments or suggestions. This is not over, but the large and vocal crowds and the many members and citizens that spoke out over the last 6 months had a strong effect on the outcome and we can be veryproud of our role. We say it a lot, but it is true, when people stand up, they win!
We have a long road ahead of us, but tonight we won.
Thank You All!
What We Have Been Fighting For!
Three years ago APV was founded in part in response to the underhanded and thuggish passage of the so called TRAP law by the Virginia General Assembly and signed by then Governor McDonnell. These Targeted Regulations against Abortion Providers were designed to put existing women’s health clinics out of business by forcing them to adhere to medically useless, economically prohibitive regulations. APV stood beside women’s health organizations, medical professionals and grass roots activists to organize protests including the historic February 2012 protest at the Capitol, pictured on our FB page. We have consistently lobbied, educated, testified and marched against TRAP in the years since and today it began to pay off as Governor McAuliffe started the process that should ultimately overturn TRAP in Virginia. APV members can take pride in knowing that you were a part of making this happen. This fight is far from over and we need to keep the pressure on, but clearly this is a victory for Virginia women and for the state as a whole. Thank You all!
UPDATE:
Those who were with us last year will remember that Ralph was our guest at the APV Oyster Roast. here’s his statement on the new BoH appointments.
Lieutenant Governor Northam’s Statement on new members of the Board of Health
I am very pleased that Governor McAuliffe has chosen to appoint such a strong group of individuals to the Board of Health. These new appointees are experienced professionals with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise. While the Board of Health deals with a diversity of issues, unfortunately its decisions in the last few years have been notable for their adverse affects on women’s reproductive rights and safe access to healthcare. I am supportive of the Governor’s request for a review of the TRAP regulations and I am hopeful that the Board will conduct an independent review genuinely focused on health and safety, and absent of outside political influences.
Closeing a loophole in the Animal Fighting Ring.
Since 2011 the Alliance for Progressive Values has been lobbying Congress to criminalize the act of attending and/or bringing a minor to an animal fighting event. To us it seemed like commonsense law making to guarantee that spectators at these loathsome illegal events should be held accountable and in particular those who would seek to indoctrinate and abuse children by introducing them at a tender age to some of the most vicious and barbaric “sport” imaginable.
This month President Obama signed the controversial and in many ways disappointing Farm Bill into law and while we have plenty of concerns about this legislation, we are proud and pleased to note that it contains the language on animal fighting that APV and many other groups have been looking to include.
Here is a link to a story on the federal law and here is our letter to Congress from 2011 in support of then current legislation. Congratulation in particular to our former president Stephanie Rodriguez who fought hard for this, these things take time, but we get results.
APV Letter to Congress
The Alliance for Progressive Values 2014 Virginia Legislative Oyster Roast is Here.
You’re invited!
The Alliance for Progressive Values 2014 Virginia Legislative Oyster Roast is here.
Each year APV throws an party during the General Assembly for members and their staff and we invite our members and guests to come spend some quality time talking to them over some delicious Virginia oysters and a beer, about issues that Progressive care about like the environment, reasonable gun laws, women’s rights, voting rights, LGBTQ equality, education and more. Please join us on Thursday February 20th 2014 at the beautiful Eric Schindler Gallery on East Broad Street in Richmond from 6:30 till 9:30pm for an old fashioned Virginia oyster roast.
APV Oyster Roast
Thursday, Feb. 20th
6:30-9:30 pm
The Eric Schindler Gallery
2305 E. Broad St.
Richmond VA
804-644-5005
General Public $25
APV Members $20
GA Members (and staff with ID), Free
Please RSVP to info@APVonline.org so we know how many oysters to shuck.
ATTENTION APV members, your discounted price of $20 also qualifies as your membership renewal for this year.
