The powers and duties of the state board of health under this chapter shall be performed by the department of health.
[ 1989 1st ex.s. c 9 § 202; 1985 c 213 § 3; ]
Every person who shall endeavor to conceal the birth of a child by any disposition of its dead body, whether the child died before or after its birth, shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
[ 1909 c 249 § 200; RRS § 2452; ]
The state may not deny or interfere with a woman's right to choose to have an abortion prior to 15 weeks of gestational age or prior to the fetal heartbeat being detected, or in case of a medical emergency or severe fetal abnormality.
Except in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality, a physician may not terminate and a health care provider may not assist a physician in terminating a pregnancy if the probable gestational age of the unborn human being has been determined to be greater than 15 weeks or if a fetal heartbeat has been detected.
No person may perform an abortion except as authorized in this section.
Any person who performs an abortion on another person in violation of this chapter shall be guilty of a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW.
Any health care practitioner licensed under Title 18 RCW who violates this chapter commits an act of unprofessional conduct and his or her license shall be suspended by the appropriate disciplining authority pursuant to chapter 18.130 RCW.
A physician who knowingly or intentionally delivers to the department of health any report required by RCW 9.02.130 that is known by the physician to be false is subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation imposed by the department of health.
The attorney general has the authority to bring an action in law or equity to enforce the provisions of this chapter on behalf of any disciplining authority as defined in chapter 18.130 RCW. The disciplining authorities also have the authority to bring such an action on their own.
Except in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality, prior to performing an abortion as authorized in RCW 9.02.110, the physician or the referring physician shall first:
Make a determination of the probable gestational age of the unborn human being and document that gestational age;
Make a determination of whether the unborn human being has a detectable fetal heartbeat; and
Document in the maternal patient's chart:
The probable gestational age of the unborn human being; and
Whether a fetal heartbeat has been detected.
Whenever a physician performs an abortion on an unborn human being whose gestational age is greater than 15 weeks or whose fetal heartbeat is detected, the physician shall cause to be filed with the department of health, on a form supplied by the department, a report.
The report shall contain the following:
The date of the abortion;
The specific method of abortion used;
The probable gestational age of the unborn human being and the method used to calculate the gestational age;
Whether a fetal heartbeat was detected and the method used to determine whether the unborn human being had a detectable fetal heartbeat;
A statement declaring that the abortion was necessary to preserve the life or physical health of the maternal patient;
Specific medical indications supporting the abortion; and
Probable health consequences of the abortion and specific abortion method used.
The report may not contain the name of the maternal patient upon whom the abortion was performed or any other information or identifiers that would make it possible to identify, in any manner or any circumstances, a woman who sought to obtain an abortion.
The department of health shall, within 30 days of the effective date of this section, create the forms required by this section. This subsection (2) does not apply until at least 10 days after the requisite forms have been made available.
The good faith judgment of a physician as to the gestational age of the unborn human being, the presence of a fetal heartbeat, or the presence of a medical emergency or severe fetal abnormality and the good faith judgment of a health care provider as to the duration of pregnancy is not a defense in any proceeding in which a violation of this chapter is an issue**, unless all of the requirements of this section have been met.**
Determinations of gestational age under this section must be made according to standard medical practices and techniques used in the community. Determinations of fetal heartbeat must be made using a test that is consistent with the physician's good faith and reasonable understanding of standard medical practice and appropriate for the estimated gestational age of the unborn human being and the condition of the maternal patient and her pregnancy.
Any regulation promulgated by the state relating to abortion shall be valid only if
consistent with the requirements of this chapter.
No person or private medical facility may be required by law or contract in any circumstances to participate in the performance of an abortion if such person or private medical facility objects to so doing. No person may be discriminated against in employment or professional privileges because of the person's participation or refusal to participate in the termination of a pregnancy.
[ 1992 c 1 § 6 (Initiative Measure No. 120, approved November 5, 1991); ]
If the state provides, directly or by contract, maternity care benefits, services, or information to women through any program administered or funded in whole or in part by the state, the state shall also provide women otherwise eligible for any such program with substantially equivalent benefits, services, or information to permit them to voluntarily terminate their pregnancies.
[ 1992 c 1 § 7 (Initiative Measure No. 120, approved November 5, 1991); ]
For purposes of this chapter:
1.
"Fetal heartbeat" means cardiac activity or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart within the gestational sac.
"Gestational age" or "probable gestational age" means the age of an unborn human being as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman.
"Human being" means an individual member of the species homo sapiens, from and after the point of conception.
"Severe fetal abnormality" means a life-threatening physical condition that, in reasonable medical judgment, regardless of the provision of lifesaving medical treatment, is incompatible with life outside the womb.
"Medical emergency" means a condition in which, on the basis of a physician's good faith clinical judgment, an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition arising from the pregnancy itself, or when the continuation of the pregnancy will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.
"Major bodily function" includes, but is not limited to, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.
"Abortion" means any medical treatment intended to induce the termination of a pregnancy except for the purpose of producing a live birth.
"Pregnancy" means the reproductive process beginning with the implantation of an embryo.
"Physician" means a physician licensed to practice under chapter 18.57 or 18.71 RCW in the state of Washington.
"Health care provider" means a physician or a person acting under the general direction of a physician.
"State" means the state of Washington and counties, cities, towns, municipal corporations, and quasi-municipal corporations in the state of Washington.
"Private medical facility" means any medical facility that is not owned or operated by the state.
RCW 9.02.100 through 9.02.170 and 9.02.900 through 9.02.902 shall not be construed to define the state's interest in the fetus for any purpose other than the specific provisions of RCW 9.02.100 through 9.02.170 and 9.02.900 through 9.02.902.
[ 1992 c 1 § 10 (Initiative Measure No. 120, approved November 5, 1991); ]
RCW 9.02.100 through 9.02.170 and 9.02.900 through 9.02.902 shall be known and may be cited as the Reproductive Privacy Act.
[ 1992 c 1 § 12 (Initiative Measure No. 120, approved November 5, 1991); ]
** Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion or as altering generally accepted medical standards. It is not the intent of this chapter to make lawful an abortion that is otherwise unlawful. An abortion that complies with this chapter, but violates any other state law, is unlawful. An abortion that complies with another state law, but violates this section, is unlawful.
[ 2021 c XXX § 6; ]**