GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 519, which relates to punishment for unprofessional conduct for providers performing abortions. 

The primary mission of the Board of Medicine is to protect the public from incompetent, dangerous, and unprofessional medical providers. This legislation compromises the Board's ability to fulfill that mission. 

This bill also opens the door to a resurgence of unsafe, risky abortions occurring outside of clinical settings, and it places any unprofessional behavior during an abortion outside the Board’s jurisdiction for disciplinary action. 

 In the pursuit of mitigating disciplinary actions by the Board of Medicine against physicians performing abortions, this proposal jeopardizes the safety of women and undermines the duty of the Board in providing necessary disciplinary measures against doctors engaging in unsafe practices. 

Accordingly, I veto this bill.