{"id":3044,"date":"2023-01-27T17:31:32","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T00:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/keiserarchive\/?p=3044"},"modified":"2023-01-27T17:32:40","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T00:32:40","slug":"protecting-reproductive-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/keiserarchive\/2023\/01\/27\/protecting-reproductive-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting reproductive freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear neighbors,<\/p>\n<p>This week, the 50<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision granting a constitutional right to women to make their own reproductive health choices, we heard <a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/keiserarchive\/2023\/01\/20\/wa-senate-to-hear-five-abortion-protection-bills-tuesday\/\">five bills<\/a> that are aimed at providing services and protections in the wake of the current Court\u2019s decision to eliminate that constitutional right from women.<\/p>\n<p>One bill we heard would eliminate cost-sharing for abortion care. Others would provide protection against retaliation in anti-abortion states when patients come to Washington for care they can\u2019t get at home\u2014protection for the patients, their providers, and the employers that provide reproductive care benefits.<\/p>\n<p>Washington is ranked <a href=\"https:\/\/iwpr.org\/iwpr-issues\/research-and-action-hub\/status-of-women\/iwpr-reproductive-rights-index-a-state-by-state-analysis-and-ranking\/\">one of the top three states in the country<\/a> for reproductive rights and access to essential reproductive health care services.<\/p>\n<p>But after the current U.S. Supreme Court overturned <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em> last year, that entire system of excellent reproductive health care is at risk. It\u2019s not only the Court\u2019s radical decision to overturn 50 years of legal precedent on reproductive freedom. It\u2019s also their willingness to overturn settled state laws, like a century-old gun safety law in New York State and a fifty-year-old law enabling union organizing of farmworkers in California.<\/p>\n<p>Could Washington\u2019s laws protecting reproductive freedom and access, such as our Reproductive Parity Act, be next?<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s actions over the last couple of years demonstrate that state laws are no longer true safeguards if they conflict with the unelected Supreme Court justices\u2019 opinions. Sadly, we can\u2019t rely only on state statutes to protect the right to abortion and even the right to birth control. Those statutes need the backing of clear and specific constitutional rights in our own Washington State Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why I\u2019m sponsoring <a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/billsummary?BillNumber=8202&amp;Year=2023&amp;Initiative=False\">SJR 8202<\/a>, at the request of Governor Inslee. It would enshrine in our state constitution the right to choose to have an abortion and the right to choose to use birth control.<\/p>\n<p>That would ensure our state continues to provide some of the best reproductive health care in the nation 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.<\/p>\n<p>More information about that constitutional amendment and about the other legislation can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/keiserarchive\/2023\/01\/20\/wa-senate-to-hear-five-abortion-protection-bills-tuesday\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Highlight of the week: Pregnancy accommodations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Each week this session, I\u2019ll highlight a resource that may be of use to you, your family, or your neighbors. I hope you\u2019ll pass the information along to anyone who may be able to take advantage of it. This week, I want to make sure you know about our state\u2019s requirements for <a href=\"https:\/\/lni.wa.gov\/workers-rights\/workplace-policies\/pregnancy-accommodations\">pregnancy accommodations<\/a> in the workplace under the 2017 Healthy Starts Act.<\/p>\n<p>For years, we have been hearing stories like Sarai Alhasawi\u2019s. When she was working at a FedEx contractor, she asked her manager for a commonsense pregnancy accommodation, but her manager immediately fired her over text message, writing:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t give me that crap that you can\u2019t work because you\u2019re pregnant.\u201d The manager then continued, \u201cEither you don\u2019t want to or you want to but it doesn\u2019t matter anymore because you\u2019re no longer employed with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before, the story would have ended there, with Sarai out of a job while pregnant. But now, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atg.wa.gov\/news\/news-releases\/tacoma-judge-imposes-penalties-ag-ferguson-s-first-lawsuit-fight-pregnancy\">Attorney General\u2019s Office<\/a> took her employer to court and she was paid damages.<\/p>\n<p>Under my <strong>Healthy Starts Act,<\/strong> employers must consider any request for an accommodation related to pregnancy or childbirth, including things like more frequent or longer breaks, the ability to sit more frequently, modified food or drink policies, a place to pump breast milk, and others. Learn more <a href=\"https:\/\/lni.wa.gov\/workers-rights\/workplace-policies\/pregnancy-accommodations\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On the topic of pregnancy\u2014this year, I\u2019m sponsoring <a href=\"https:\/\/app.leg.wa.gov\/billsummary?BillNumber=5501&amp;Initiative=false&amp;Year=2023\">SB 5501<\/a>, the Count the Kicks bill, which would bring a successful stillbirth prevention program to Washington. It would educate providers and expectant moms to pay close attention to fetal movements. It is sad that we lose nearly 500 babies a year on average to stillbirths when we can be proactive and help prevent up to a third of all stillbirths.<\/p>\n<p>Previous highlights of the week: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dshs.wa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/ALTSA\/stakeholders\/documents\/AD\/Dementia%20Road%20Map%20-%20A%20Guide%20for%20Family%20and%20Care%20Partners.pdf\">Dementia Road Map for Caregivers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/paidleave.wa.gov\/\">Paid Family and Medical Leave<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stay in Touch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019d like to follow what I\u2019m working on, you can like my official legislative Facebook page\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SenKarenKeiser\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Please don\u2019t hesitate to stay in touch. Stay safe and take care.<\/p>\n<p>Always,<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-715\" src=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/keiserarchive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2014\/01\/Keiser.jpg\" alt=\"Sen. Keiser signature\" width=\"350\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/keiserarchive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2014\/01\/Keiser.jpg 350w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/keiserarchive\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2014\/01\/Keiser-300x86.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Sen. Karen Keiser<br \/>\nSenate President Pro Tempore<br \/>\nChair, Senate Labor &amp; Commerce Committee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear neighbors, This week, the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision granting a constitutional right to women to make their own reproductive health choices, we heard five bills that are aimed at providing services and protections in the wake of the current Court\u2019s decision to eliminate that constitutional right from women. One bill we heard would eliminate cost-sharing for abortion care. Others would provide protection against retaliation in anti-abortion states when patients come to Washington for care they can\u2019t get at home\u2014protection for the patients, their providers, and the employers that provide reproductive care benefits. Washington is ranked&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":3045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Protecting reproductive freedom - Karen Keiser Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/keiserarchive\/2023\/01\/27\/protecting-reproductive-freedom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protecting reproductive freedom - Karen Keiser Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear neighbors, This week, the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision granting a constitutional right to women to make their own reproductive health choices, we heard five bills that are aimed at providing services and protections in the wake of the current Court\u2019s decision to eliminate that constitutional right from women. One bill we heard would eliminate cost-sharing for abortion care. Others would provide protection against retaliation in anti-abortion states when patients come to Washington for care they can\u2019t get at home\u2014protection for the patients, their providers, and the employers that provide reproductive care benefits. 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