The Washington Senate on Monday passed a "shield law" that blocks local cooperation with out-of-state efforts to pursue criminal and civil cases related to abortion, sending the legislation to Gov. Jay Inslee.
The governor has repeatedly voiced support for House Bill 1469 — one of several proposed laws aimed at strengthening abortion access in Washington in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.
"I assume he'll sign this one pretty quickly," said Rep. Drew Hansen, a Bainbridge Island Democrat who sponsored the bill.
Its Senate passage comes at a flashpoint in the post-Roe landscape, with dueling federal court opinions, including one in Washington, calling into question the nationwide availability of the commonly used abortion medication mifepristone.
The bill, passed by the House in February, prevents abortion-related subpoenas, extradition requests, warrants and other legal mechanisms from getting traction in Washington. It also creates a counterclaim of up to $10,000, plus damages, for those targeted by such legal action. The legislation similarly protects gender-affirming care.
Reproductive rights advocates said the necessity of a shield law became even more apparent after Idaho lawmakers last month passed a bill making it a crime to help minors get abortions without parental consent, such as by driving them to Washington or other states where abortion is legal. The penalty for so-called abortion "trafficking" is two to five years imprisonment.
Some states have enacted anti-abortion laws with even stiffer penalties. Under Texas law, an abortion provider can receive a sentence of up to life in prison.
Such laws raise the possibility that, say, a Texas prosecutor could bring a case against a Washington abortion doctor who treats a Texas resident, or that an Idaho prosecutor could go after a Washingtonian who helps an underage relative in Idaho cross state lines for an abortion.
Washington anti-abortion advocates and legislators nevertheless questioned the need for a shield law, given firm abortion protections in state law. At the same time, at least one conservative lawmaker suggested Washington should cooperate with out-of-state abortion cases.
"If we don't honor the actions of courts, of law enforcement agencies from other states, we run the risk of other states not honoring ours," Rep. Jim Walsh, an Aberdeen Republican, said as the bill was moving through the Legislature. He also said he was worried about creating a Washington "abortion tourism" industry.
Meanwhile, Washington officials, providers and reproductive rights advocates have welcomed abortion patients from other states. Local Planned Parenthood affiliates and the Northwest Abortion Access Fund cover some expenses for those needing to travel.
While exact numbers of out-of-state abortion patients are difficult to come by, Washington clinics have said they are seeing an increase in such patients, if not of the magnitude initially expected. Patients are traveling from as far as Texas to end their pregnancies.
An organization called #WeCount, led by the Society of Family Planning, has been collecting abortion data since Roe was overturned. It released a report Tuesday showing an average increase of 138 abortions in Washington a month between last July and December, compared to the two months before the Supreme Court ruling.
Hansen said he began working on a proposed shield law soon after a draft of the Supreme Court's opinion on Roe was leaked last May. Some states would be "creative and aggressive" in trying to restrict abortion access, even outside their borders, he predicted. So he and others decided Washington also had to be "creative and aggressive" in fighting back.
The shield law offers protection only in Washington. It could not stop law enforcement officials in another state, Idaho for instance, from arresting and prosecuting a Washingtonian who travels to that state.
"Idaho could do what Idaho wants with Idaho cops and Idaho courts," Hansen acknowledged.
That's why one Washington legal advocacy group has been advising abortion providers to think twice before vacationing in Idaho.
