The U.S. Supreme Court will soon rule on whether a federal law requires hospitals to provide emergency abortions.
Whatever the justices rule, Washington will be unaffected, Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday. That’s because of separate state laws around emergency services — laws that nonetheless may not be absolutely clear as they pertain to abortion.
So the Democratic governor is directing the state Department of Health to write a rule clarifying that such laws require hospitals and affiliated facilities providing emergency services to perform abortions when patients’ health is in jeopardy. “We’re making it clear so that everybody will understand the rules,” Inslee said at a news conference Tuesday in downtown Seattle, noting he was speaking close to the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Inslee’s directive underscores the profoundly different directions states have been moving during those two years. Some, like Idaho, where the current Supreme Court case involving emergency abortions originated, have been outlawing pregnancy terminations in virtually all cases. Others, such as Washington, have enacted a series of strengthened protections for abortion providers and patients — including those coming from states with abortion bans.
A University of Washington study published last month found a 50% increase in out-of-state patients going to Cedar River Clinics, which offers reproductive and sexual health care in Seattle, Tac.
