Reproductive freedom and gender-affirming care would be enshrined in the state’s Constitution under a proposed Democrat-backed amendment that’s dividing lawmakers along party lines.
Republicans have lodged fierce objections to Senate Joint Resolution 8204, alleging that the suggested amendment would effectively allow “abortions up to birth” and “gender surgeries for kids at any age.”
That’s not the case, says the resolution’s prime sponsor.
State Sen. Vandana Slatter, a Bellevue Democrat, said SJR 8204 just adds what’s already in state law into the Washington Constitution.
“I do think it’s important, as a health-care professional, that it be the right information that people get,” Slatter said. “And that deeply concerns me, that that is not accurate.”
Slatter filed SJR 8204 earlier this week. As of Wednesday, it had attracted co-sponsor support from 27 of her Democratic colleagues.
The proposed amendment says the state cannot interfere with or deny a person’s fundamental right to an abortion, to use contraception or assisted-reproductive technology, or to be free from discrimination based on pregnancy outcome.
It also says the state can’t intervene in someone’s decisions over gender-affirming care.
If passed out of the Senate and House with a supermajority, it would still need to go before voters, who’d have the final say.
Senate Minority Leader John Braun told McClatchy Tuesday that his caucus has “grave concerns” about the joint resolution.
“I mean, the current law is access to abortion up until viability,” the Centralia Republican said during a March 4 media availability. “This basically allows abortion up until the day of birth. That’s something many people feel goes in the wrong direction.”
Abortions in Washington can be performed until fetal viability, generally 24-26 weeks into pregnancy. They can also be used to protect the pregnant patient’s health or life.
Deputy House Minority Leader Chris Corry said abortion has been legal in the state since voters passed it through an initiative decades ago.
“I think this is more of a publicity stunt than anything else,” the Yakima Republican said of the proposed amendment. “But I will say the addition of some of the gender-affirming care for children is rightfully concerning, and obviously I think that’s a no-go for most Washingtonians.”
Typically transgender youth don’t receive gender-affirming surgeries before they turn 18, according to the Human Rights Campaign. At Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic, gender-affirming medical care can be accessed only by youth who have begun puberty and with parental consent, except when the patient is an emancipated minor.
In addition to being a lawmaker, Slatter is a clinical pharmacist. She firmly believes that health-care decisions should be private and that Washingtonians should be free to choose their reproductive and gender-affirming care.
She said the joint resolution is needed given recent actions at the federal level and across red states nationwide.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January aimed at barring federal funding for gender-affirming care for trans youth under 19. It’s a move that Washington Attorney General Nick Brown promptly challenged in federal court.
Slatter said that transgender health care in the state is delivered in an age-appropriate, evidence-based way. In one study published in 2022 and conducted at Seattle Children’s Gender Clinic, transgender youth receiving gender-affirming care such as hormones or puberty blockers reported lower levels of depression and decreased odds of suicide.
Decisions surrounding such care are made in consultation with doctors and parents, Slatter said: “Just like health care for all other people, we’re proud of those laws.”
She also described Washington as a “frontier state” where transgender and non-binary folks can live openly.
“I’m hoping that this resolution shows people that even though we have really strong protections in Washington state,” Slatter said, “we stand ready to protect those and to support people in their privacy and their freedom.”
