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Cooch Watch 2012
My name is Stephanie Arnold and I am speaking to you today as a woman, a native Virginian, an abortion clinic worker, and the creator of CoochWatch.com.
On July 16th, within an hour of the release of a media advisory announcing the launch of Coochwatch.com, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced that he would refuse to certify the new, permanent regulations for abortion facilities approved by the Board of Health last month.
I created Cooch Watch because the Attorney General has proven his only agenda for the abortion regulations is to assure they are the strictest and most costly in the nation. Everyone knows that if clinics have to somehow find a quarter of a million dollars to unnecessarily upgrade, many will close their doors.
Mr. Cuccinelli has shown no restraint in his abuse of power when it comes to abortion access in this state. He intervened in the initial drafting process of the regulations removing a recommended and customary grandfather clause.
As of July 16th he interjected his authority once again to remove a grandfather clause that was restored through a vote last month by the bipartisan board of health.
Furthermore, the Attorney General and the Governor appear to be working in concert to assure the elimination of abortion access in our state.
On June 13th the Governor announced the appointment of virulent anti-abortion activist physician John Seed to the Virginia Board of Health. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that if the Governor stacks the Board with rabid anti-abortionists and the attorney general and he keep sending the regulations back to the board, that eventually the Board will only pass regulations that are designed to shut down clinics. Again, these tyrants are not afraid to flagrantly demonstrate their power and personal agendas.
The people of Virginia showed our government this year with demonstrations, marches, and arrests on the State Capital that we will not sit quietly by while our elected officials use the government as a tool to wage their own personal War on Women.
CoochWatch.com is relevant now more than ever. We plan to attend Mr. Cuccinelli’s public events, ask questions, protest, and remind Mr. Cuccinelli that he is being watched and he will be held accountable for his actions.
Join us for some Cooch Watching, and thank you for your support!
-Stephanie