Washington Enacts Law Blocking Texas-Style Abortion Ban As More States Copy Texas Law

Topline

Washington became the first state Thursday to enact a law blocking people from being sued by the state if they undergo or help facilitate an abortion, ensuring access to the procedure after neighboring Idaho became the first state to copy Texas’ near-total ban on abortion on Monday—with others expected to follow.

An abortion rights protester in Brooklyn, New York City, on October 9, 2021.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed HB 1851 into law Thursday, which stipulates the state cannot “penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action” against anyone who gets an abortion or who “aid[s] or assist[s]” someone who does.

The legislation responds to Texas’ Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), which bans nearly all abortions after six weeks into a pregnancy and is enforced by private citizens suing anyone who “aids and abets” an abortion, rather than being enforced by state officials.

Idaho was the second state to pass such a law on Monday, which allows the fetus’ family members to sue abortion providers for at least $20,000 in damages for performing the procedure.

Washington’s legislation ensures Idahoans seeking abortions can travel to the state to have the procedure done, as well as people from Texas or any other state that passes a similar law—as many states are poised to do.

Washington had already enshrined the right to an abortion in state law, but HB 1851 also amended the language for its existing protections to be more inclusive, changing references to pregnant women to “pregnant individuals.”

Crucial Quote

“To the citizens of Idaho, if Idaho will not stand up for your constitutional rights, we will,” Inslee said Thursday before signing HB 1851, as reported by the Associated Press.

What To Watch For

California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York are also considering bills that would prohibit people who facilitate abortions from being sued, Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst at the pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute, told the AP.

What We Don’t Know

What the state of abortion rights will look like later this year, as the Supreme Court is poised to rule by the end of this term on whether to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban and let states restrict abortion even before the fetus is viable. Texas’ and Idaho’s laws were crafted to get around existing federal abortion protections and ban the procedure even before the Supreme Court rules, but a decision in Mississippi’s favor would likely lead to an even bigger wave of state-level abortion restrictions. It would also make abortion protections in Washington and other states more crucial for ensuring access in lieu of having the right to an abortion under federal law.

Key Background

Texas’ SB 8 has been in effect since September 1—the most restrictive abortion law to take effect in the U.S.—and has been repeatedly affirmed in court, thanks to its lawsuit provision making it difficult to name defendants who can actually be blocked from enforcing the law. Washington is part of a broader rash of Democratic-led states that are moving to enact more abortion protections in the wake of the Texas law and in case the Supreme Court rolls back abortion rights. New Jersey formally enshrined the right to an abortion in state law in January—and Vermont is working on doing so through a state constitutional amendment—for instance. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also said that state plans to be an abortion “sanctuary” if Roe v. Wade is overturned, including by potentially funding people’s travel from states banning the procedure.

Tangent

A lawmaker in Missouri introduced an amendment to legislation there that would allow lawsuits against those who help people in Missouri get an abortion, even when the procedure takes place out of state. That could complicate Democratic-led states’ plans to preserve abortion access if it goes through and actually stands up in court—it’s unclear if it will—particularly if other states follow suit.