Dear neighbors:

“The state may not deny or interfere with a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion prior to viability of the fetus, or to protect her life or health.”

Those are the unequivocal words of an initiative passed by the people of this state more than 30 years ago to guarantee Washingtonians’ reproductive freedom. In fact, the people of our state have twice voted to protect abortion rights: first by passing Referendum 20 in 1970, more than two years before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, and second by passing Initiative 120, the Reproductive Privacy Act, in 1991, codifying the Roe protections into state law.

But rights by themselves are meaningless without actual access to care. While extremist judges in parts of the country are trying to roll back reproductive freedoms and access to gender affirming care, our state is protecting both rights and access.

  • Protecting patients’ privacy. The My Health My Data Act is a first-in-the-nation law to prevent companies from collecting, selling, and sharing your sensitive health data without permission. I sponsored the Senate companion to HB 1155, which earned the support of an overwhelming 76% of Washingtonians in a recent poll.
  • Eliminating out-of-pocket costs for patients seeking abortion care, through SB 5242.
  • Shielding patients and providers of abortion and gender affirming care from retribution by other states, through HB 1469.
  • Protecting providers who deliver care in accordance with Washington state law from license discipline, through HB 1340.
  • Safeguarding access to the safe, effective abortion medication mifepristone, through SB 5768.
  • Funding health care infrastructure through a budget proviso of $15 million to protect access to reproductive care and to support clinics experiencing an influx of out-of-state patients.

Washington is ranked one of the top three states in the country for reproductive rights and access to essential reproductive health care services. We are committed to ensuring our state continues to provide that level of excellent care for the people of Washington and for people in other states who are forced to come here for care when their rights are taken away.

Stay in touch

As always, please feel free to reach out to my office directly with any questions or concerns. Take care!

Sincerely yours,

Manka Dhingra
Senator, 45th Legislative District
Deputy Majority Leader