What Washington law on abortion says in wake of Supreme Court's Roe ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a decision announced Friday morning, returning control over access to abortions to each state in a 6-3 decision based on a Mississippi case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

In Washington state, where abortion has been legal since a 1970 referendum that preceded the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee set out preparing for the decision after a leaked draft of Justice Samuel Alito's majority was made public earlier this year.

A measure passed by the Legislature and signed by Inslee in March, the Affirm Washington Abortion Access Act, took effect in June, increasing the number of providers who can provide abortions, granting specific statutory authorization for physician assistants, advanced registered nurse practitioners and other providers acting within their scope of practice.

The law also prohibits legal action against people seeking an abortion and those who aid them, a move designed to rebut recent actions by conservative states. Conservative legislatures in several states, including Idaho, either passed or proposed new abortion restrictions in anticipation of changes to Roe v. Wade.

There is no constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to an abortion in Washington state. An amendment would require bipartisan support to reach the two-thirds support of the Legislature to place an amendment on the ballot.

In response to the decision Friday, Inslee and the Democratic governors of Oregon and California issued a joint statement reaffirming a commitment to maintaining access to abortion in the neighboring Pacific coast states.

“The law remains unchanged in Washington state, but the threat to patient access and privacy has never been more dangerous. Even in Washington state, Republicans have introduced about 40 bills in the past six years to roll back abortion rights and access to reproductive care,” Gov. Inslee said in a statement. “..Washington state remains steadfast in our commitment to protecting the ability and right of every patient who comes to our state in need of abortion care, and we will fight like hell to restore that right to patients all across the country.”

According to a news release from Inslee, Washington's Reproductive Parity Act of 2018 requires all health plans that include maternity care services to also cover abortion and contraception, and 2021's Protecting Pregnancy Act allows doctors who practice in Catholic-run hospitals to bypass ethical-religious directives and provide medically necessary abortion when a woman’s life is in danger.

Washington state law also protects a person’s right to terminate a pregnancy any time before the fetus is considered viable, which is when it can survive outside the womb, due to a 1991 law approved by an initiative that was narrowly approved, with 50.1% of voters in favor.

Washington law also allows pregnancies to be terminated even later, if doing so would protect the health or life of the birth parent.

The state's 1970 referendum, which established a limited right for women to access abortions, passed with more than 56% of the vote, according to reporting from Crosscut.com. It did require married women to get their husband’s permission and minors to get a guardian’s permission to undergo the procedure.

The measure was followed by Roe v. Wade, and later the state's Initiative 120 codified the protections of Roe into state law.

Archives from the Associated Press were used in this report.  

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: What are Washington's abortion laws in wake of Roe ruling?