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Regulating Pregnancy Centers

Bills: SB 5274, HB 1366
Position: support
Status: HB 1366 passed out of committee, but did not make it to the House floor for a vote.
This bill addressed problems associated with limited service pregnancy centers (also known as crisis pregnancy clinics). Women, often low-income and without health insurance, go to these centers seeking medical care and unbiased counseling about pregnancy options. Instead, they get false or misleading information about reproductive health care, their pregnancy test results are withheld, and they are denied needed referrals for reproductive health care, including abortions. At least 46 such centers are operating in Washington.

The measure required these pregnancy centers to provide accurate information about the services they provide, to deliver pregnancy test results immediately, and to protect the privacy of health care information collected from people seeking services. The ACLU worked with Planned Parenthood, Legal Voice, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, NOW, and others to gain passage of the bill. However, very vocal opposition from anti-choice forces prevented it from advancing. Read More »

 
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Don't Let Pregnancy Centers Deceive Women

Sarah Davies, ACLU-WA Internet Operations Manager
Monday, January 24th, 2011 at 11:35 am
There are 46 pregnancy centers in Washington State providing misleading information about the services they offer. Women facing unexpected pregnancies have entered these "clinics" expecting to receive medical care and information about all of their options. Instead they find that the their client privacy is not protected, their test results and pregnancy records are withheld, and they are denied needed referrals for reproductive health care. Proposed legislation would require all pregnancy centers to disclose what services they do and do not provide. Tell your legislators that you support the right of women to know what kind of services they can expect before they walk in the door. Read More »
 
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Stormans, Inc., et al. v. Selecky, et al.

A federal court put on hold two rules enacted by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy and supported by the ACLU that would have required pharmacies to dispense medications regardless of individual pharmacists’ personal feelings about a particular medicine. The injunction blocks the rules from taking effect until constitutional issues surrounding the rules are decided in a full trial. Read More »
 
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Proposal Would Severely Restrict Access to Contraception

July 17, 2008
The ACLU, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and the NW Women's Law Center denounced a wrong-headed Bush administration proposal that would classify many forms of birth control as abortion. Read More »
 

Related Links

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ACLU Celebrates Legislation on Emergency Contraception

March 1, 2002
The Washington Legislature recently passed one of the most progressive bills in the nation to improve access to emergency contraception. Read More »
 
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New Rules Extend Insurance Coverage of Contraceptives

January 1, 2002
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has issued a new agency rule that will require all licensed health insurance companies in Washington to cover all FDA-approved prescription contraceptive devices and drugs if they cover other prescription drugs. Read More »
 
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ACLU and NARAL Sue Regence BlueShield for Biased Prescription Coverage

July 12, 2001
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Washington National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) today announced the filing of a class-action lawsuit against Regence BlueShield, the state's largest insurer, for its exclusion of prescription contraceptives from the health care insurance policies it sells to small employers. Read More »
 
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