(The Center Square) – A bill introduced in the Washington State Legislature this session would bolster an existing law that seeks to shield individuals receiving or providing “protected health care services,” such as abortion or gender reassignment procedures on minors.
In 2023, the state Legislature enacted what is known as the Shield Law, which restricts the ability of courts and law enforcement to either issue or enforce any subpoenas, warrants, or extradition for civil or criminal liability related to “protected health services” as defined by state law.
Senate Bill 5632 would tack on additional provisions that further restrict any state or local officials from cooperating or providing information in aid of an out-of-state investigation into its state’s laws that prohibit services protected by Washington state law.
Aside from the Shield Law, the state Legislature also passed Senate Bill 5313 in 2021 and Senate Bill 5599 in 2023. In conjunction with a 1985 state law, minors 13 and older can obtain gender-affirming treatments without parental knowledge or consent, while insurance companies are prohibited from informing parents when their child receives these medical services. Host homes and youth shelters can also legally hide underage children from their parents if they identify as a runaway seeking “gender affirming care,” which includes but not limited to the following procedures:
Genital modificationHysterectomyMastectomyPenile implant
SB 5632 also requires any state-based businesses that provide electronic communication services to notify the State Attorney General’s Office if an organization has received legal processes related protected health care services “when the required attestation is missing or contains an incomplete.”
Bill sponsor Sen. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island, told the Senate Law & Justice Committee at Monday’s public hearing that since the passage of the Shield Law, “we have identified some relatively minor workability concerns with the law. One is about the definition of assistance that maybe needed a little bit more precision to make sure that it would catch all of the situations that we wanted it to catch.”
He added that the provision involving the AGO offers “a mechanism to step in and protect people’s health care information.”
Also testifying in favor of the bill was Elsie Elling, who lives in East Vancouver. She told the committee that since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, she’s volunteered with an organization that provides logistical and practical support for out-of-state residents seeking abortions, such as picking them up from the airport or taking them to doctor appointments.
“While many of the folks that I’ve helped are from around southwest Washington … I’ve supported folks from Idaho, Texas, Ohio and Florida,” she said. “There are deep concerns about hostile actors who may try to go after people like me for providing practical support to a person getting abortion care.”
Also in favor of the bill was Chris Smith, a staff member at Pro-Choice Washington, telling the committee that “this bill would strengthen Washington shield law, ensuring that protections are expanded beyond providers and patients on the reproductive health journey and work to increase the dignity of their health care experiences. These patients face systematic and logistical barriers to accessing abortion care.”
Opposed to the bill was Matthew Jackman, a self-described “concerned voter and taxpayer” who said that “our state is grossly out of step with the nation as a whole and out of touch with rational and ethical science. We should not be expending state funds to pay for residents and non-residents to be provided these non-scientific and non-medically necessary procedures. This type of spending is what has helped to get our state into the financial crisis.”
He added that the “radical gender ideology that is rampant in the Seattle and Olympia area is akin to bloodletting with leeches, electric shock therapy and lobotomies as therapies stack up. Gender dysphoria is a medical mental disorder and not something that any medical procedure can correct.”
SB 5632 is scheduled for a committee vote on Feb. 13.
