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City councils don’t normally get involved in the abortion debate, especially when it concerns regulating abortion centers themselves, but that’s what the council in this Virginia city has done.

Last week it passed a resolution that would create a committee to study what regulations and guidelines abortion centers there operate under and to determine if stricter guidelines are needed.

Amethyst Health Center for Women appears to be the only abortion business in the city at this time.

Virginia currently requires a 24-hour waiting period and parental consent before an abortion can be done. The state Board of Medicine and the Department of Health Professions regulate abortion facilities and abortion practitioners.

“The focus of this [resolution] is to look at the health and safety requirements being done” at Amethyst, City Council member Marc Aveni, the resolution’s author, said.

Aveni added that he is concerned with issues such as cleanliness, after-care, inspections, hospital privileges and procedures performed on minors.

The council’s options concerning guidelines and regulations for the abortion center include changing the definition of a hospital to include any medical facility that performs 25 abortions or more annually.

It also could require Amethyst and future abortion centers to meet higher standards.

[27Oct07, Manassas, VA LifeNews.com]