× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Monday announced a review of regulations that require the state’s existing first-trimester abortion clinics to meet construction standards for new hospitals.

He also began to overhaul the state’s 15-member Board of Health — naming five new appointees to the panel that will conduct the review.

While the regulations remain in place, the review could provide cover for an administrative delay or waiver to those clinics that have not yet complied with the new building requirements. The review could take up to 24 months.

McAuliffe, a Democrat, will have the chance to further change the makeup of the board, with the expiration of other members’ terms over the next two years.

Eighteen clinics are in operation in Virginia.

“I am very concerned that the extreme and punitive regulations that were adopted last year jeopardize the ability of most women’s health centers to keep their doors open and place in jeopardy the health and reproductive rights of Virginia women,” the governor told reporters at the state Capitol.