I am Ann Russell, and I am currently the acting Executive Director at Blue Ridge Women’s Center. My first visit to BRWC was as a client over 30 years ago. Since then I have volunteered, been on staff as an administrative assistant, a counselor, the Director of Counseling and now the acting Executive Director. I have seen how my fellow Virginian’s faithful support to women and babies truly changes lives.
Tomorrow, July 1st, in the state of Virginia, radical legal changes take effect which rollback
almost every state policy previously protecting women and unborn children.
- All basic health and safety regulations for abortion facilities are completely eliminated.
- Nurse practitioners and nurse midwives – not just physicians – can now conduct invasive abortion procedures.
- Virtually all requirements of informed consent prior to an abortion have been eliminated, including: an ultrasound prior an abortion, which was required to be offered to the woman to view, as well as an offer for her to hear the fetal heart tone; literature describing the gestational time frame, with pictures; a discussion of alternatives to abortion including adoption; information about the risks of the procedure; and more.
- The required 24-hour wait period between the ultrasound and the abortion has been eliminated.
Governor Northam, a retired pediatrician, signed this radical bill on Good Friday of all days and had the audacity to say, “The Reproductive Health Protection Act will make women and families safer, and I’m proud to sign it into law.”
In reality, the changes coming tomorrow do not make women and babies safer. By gutting informed consent and eliminating every prior basic health and safety standard actually makes women and babies more at risk.
Your faithful support and prayers are needed now more than ever. Please continue joining us as we double our efforts to reach women to educate and inform them of the truth of ALL their choices.
https://secure.egsnetwork.com/donate/187071AEC0E0413
Thank you taking a stand for life.
Ann Russel
