A Seattle City Council committee Tuesday will hear a report on an “influx of healthcare refugees seeking care from other states that have restricted access to abortion” to Washington State in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision upending the federal right to abortion access.
The Public Safety and Human Services Committee 9:30 AM session will include an update on the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, the 2017 effort the city and county-boosted with $2.25 million to help address the influx.
“Between April 2022 and March 2023, Washington State saw its number of monthly abortions increase by 16.5%, or an additional 290 procedures per month,” a council brief on the Tuesday session reports. Continue reading →
Mayor Bruce Harrell signed four new bills into law Monday to protect abortion access in — and beyond — Seattle.
“After the Supreme Court’s dangerous Dobbs decision, we must use every tool available to protect the fundamental rights of privacy and autonomy,” Harrell said in a statement on the signing ceremony. “These bills ensure abortion and reproductive healthcare remain safe and legal in Seattle for all who seek it.” Continue reading →
The Seattle City Council passed more legislation this week to help protect abortion rights and the rights of those seeking gender-affirming care.
One bill will add people who have received or are seeking abortions as a protected class in Seattle, ensuring their civil rights protections while the other creates a misdemeanor charge for people who “encroach on individuals seeking abortions or gender-affirming care.”
The newly approved bills follow passage of legislation from District 3’s Kshama Sawant last week directing the Seattle Police Department and the City Attorney Ann Davison “to refrain from cooperating with out-of-state law enforcement agencies or other entities about abortion-related matters,” according to a statement from the council. Continue reading →
A protester at a May #BansOffOurBodies rally in Cal Anderson
Seattle has prohibited its police department and city attorney from cooperating with law enforcement and legal actions related to abortion bans in other states.
Tuesday, the Seattle City Council passed District 3 representative Kshama Sawant’s legislation directing the Seattle Police Department and the City Attorney Ann Davison “to refrain from cooperating with out-of-state law enforcement agencies or other entities about abortion-related matters,” according to a statement from the council.
If abortion were to become unlawful in Washington, it would make enforcement of those laws among the lowest priorities, the statement said. Continue reading →
As officials responded with anger and pledges to protect access in the city and across the state, thousands marched in downtown Seattle Friday night, with large groups gathering in Westlake and in front of the Seattle Federal Office Building following the Supreme Court ruling reversing Roe vs. Wade and eliminating the constitutional right to abortion.
The entire block is filled with people in downtown Seattle protesting for abortion rights following today’s #SCOTUS decision. I have so far not seen any counter protesting groups. pic.twitter.com/xyZ81v0iMe
State and local officials are pledging to maintain access to abortion and reproductive health services — and making preparations to be a “sanctuary” for those in need.
“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,” Governor Jay Inslee said in a statement Friday morning as Washington joined Oregon and California in “a Multi-State Commitment to defend access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, and committed to protecting patients and doctors against efforts by other states to export their abortion bans to our states.”
King County Executive Dow Constantine, meanwhile, announced $1 million “in emergency funding to ensure safe access to abortion in King County.”
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said his office is seeking to spend $250,000 “in efforts to expand access to reproductive health care through the Northwest Abortion Access Fund.” Continue reading →
A counter message against anti-choice pickets in Seattle (Image: Brady Hall via Shout Your Abortion)
Anti-choice picketers weren’t very successful finding takers for their LGBTQ-mimicking rainbow-colored flyers on Broadway over the weekend. But their presence was disturbing enough.
“We’ve seen an uptick across the country since Trump’s election,” Michelle Farber, organizer and organizer for Seattle Clinic Defense tells CHS about the seemingly incongruous presence of anti-abortion protesters in the midst of Capitol Hill nightlife over the weekend. Continue reading →
Supporters of abortion rights cautiously celebrated at 10th and Pike Monday night after the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that has restricted clinic access in the state. Shout Your Abortion organizer Amelia Bonow reminded those gathered that only 24 hours earlier, the group planning the Seattle event wasn’t sure if it would be a night of celebration — or tears.
“This decision could have gone either way,” Bonow told the crowd of people who came out to the nightlife district to the corner that has also become a popular gathering place to mark victories.
“We dodged a bullet but our collective body is still being beaten,” Bonow said. Continue reading →
After a weekend of rallies and marches, more Capitol Hill mindfulness is being planned.
By Monday morning, the Supreme Court will have issued its first ruling in a decade on a case involving the right to have an abortion No matter how the court rules, Monday night, a Shout Your Abortion rally will take place in Pike/Pine — “in celebration”… or “tears.”
9pm: GET THERE, LOOK AROUND
9:45 SHARP: SECRET THING TOO GOOD FOR HYPE
Midnight: WE DISPERSE
EXTRAS: PHOTOBOOTH W/ KELLY O! MUSIC! HUGS! AND THE UNVEILING OF A GLORIOUS SURPRISE!
WHY:
On Monday, June 27th, the Supreme Court will announce the most significant ruling on abortion rights in decades: Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt.
As a response to this SCOTUS decision, SYA has coordinated a nationwide series of actions that we will unveil to the public right here in Seattle on 6/27 at 9pm, at 10th and Pike, where we will gather in celebration or tears.
WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5-3!!!! “Both the admitting privileges and surgical center requirements place a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a previability abortion, constitute an undue burden on abortion access, and thus violate the Constitution.”
Since the law at the center of the Supreme Court case–House Bill 2–was enacted in July 2013, the number of abortion clinics in Texas has dropped from 40 to 18. Currently, 100 counties are more than 100 miles away from the nearest Texas abortion facility — and 21 counties are more than 250 miles away.
“If the Supreme Court lets HB 2 stand, Texas will be left with NINE CLINICS for 5.4 million women of reproductive age and anti-choice legislators will continue to decimate abortion access with similar laws nationwide,” organizers of Monday’s event write. A decision ruling the Texas law unconstitutional would lead to clinics in that state reopening and open the door to similar laws being struck down in other parts of the country, organizers say.
Shout Your Abortion was started when Seattle writer Amelia Bonow used the phrase to publicly discuss the abortion she received at a Planned Parenthood clinic on Capitol Hill.
A Seattle City Council committee Tuesday will hear a report on an “influx of healthcare refugees seeking care from other states that have restricted access to abortion” to Washington State in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision upending the federal right to abortion access.
