In 2017, forcing taxpayers to fund abortion became law in Oregon and Illinois. It now appears as if Washington state could follow. On January 31, the State Senate passed the Reproductive Parity Act (RPA), which requires insurance companies to cover abortion if they cover maternity care, KIRO 7 News reported. As is the case in Oregon, non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants, would be covered.
KIRO 7 News describes the Act as “a type of reimbursement program for women — including non-citizens — without insurance or who are on Medicaid,” which means such abortions would be covered at taxpayer expense.
The Democratically controlled Senate is wasting no time on forcing such abortion coverage. Senator Steve Hobbs, who introduced the bill, told KIRO 7 News that the bill “should pass, and we should move quickly on it because these days it’s really anybody’s guess as to what the Trump administration will or won’t do next.”
President Donald Trump has signaled support for commonsense federal legislation banning elective abortions past 20 weeks, which is halfway into pregnancy, and when a preborn child can feel pain. However, this legislation failed to pass in the U.S. Senate.
Hobbs also claimed “Washington has long led the way on this issue.” Americans United for Life ranked the state as the least protective state for life in its most recent list would confirm such a statement.
According to the Spokesman-Review, which also reported on the bill, extreme pro-abortion politicians in the state refused to allow for pro-life amendments such as conscience protection rights exemptions and a ban on abortions based on sex, sexual orientation, and Down Syndrome diagnoses. Pro-life politicians also argued that the bill would be more accurately called the Abortion Insurance Mandate Law.
Democratic Governor Jay Inslee’s support for abortion signals he is likely to sign the bill into law should it reach him. His website boasts of endorsements from NARAL and Planned Parenthood, and also lists “Women’s Health Care,” full of pro-abortion language, as one of his “Priorities.”
Human Life of Washington has encouraged constituents to contact their members.
Not only would such a law force Washingtonians to fund abortions against objections they may have, and increase abortions, it also sends a dangerously misleading message about pregnancy and abortion.
In relating maternity coverage to abortion, the state equates childbirth with abortion, when they are far from equal. To forcefully fund the direct and intentional killing of preborn children could not be more different than funding the care of a mother and her child.
Pregnancy can be a vulnerable time for women. They don’t deserve or need abortion. They deserve and need options which respect the dignity of both the mother and their children.
