Law: Hospital must offer abortions or close ward

COLFAX — Birthing services at Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics will end if abortion services are not offered by Dec. 15.

That’s according to hospital officials citing a letter from Washington State Attorney General Robert “Bob” Ferguson dated Nov. 22. The letter requests compliance with the Reproductive Privacy Act.

Ferguson, who is the leading Democrat in the gubernatorial race to replace Gov. Jay Inslee, sent a similar letter to 25 other public hospitals across the state.

According to Ferguson's letter, the Reproductive Privacy Act requires patient privacy for all women seeking birthing and or abortion services. It also requires publicly funded hospitals to provide for elective abortions if they have obstetrics and other maternity and birthing services.

In a written response from Whitman Hospital on Nov. 27, CEO Hank Hannigan confirmed receipt of the letter and said the district would respond with compliance details by Dec. 15. Those details could include guaranteeing abortion services are available here or closing the obstetrics unit.

Hospital commissioners initially decided Feb. 21 to end maternity services, but revisited the issue during a special meeting Wednesday, March 6, at Colfax Library.

They were set to discuss it again March 20, during a meeting in the hospital administrative annex building on the medical campus at 1200 W. Fairview St. That meeting started after the newspaper went to press.

Births and Abortions

According to Ferguson’s letter, the state was notified that the district is not meeting its obligations under the Reproductive Privacy Act, Revised Code of Washington 9.02.100.

The law says the “right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions” is a “fundamental right.”

“The Reproductive Privacy Act mandates that if the state provides maternity care benefits, services, or information to patients through any program administered or funded in whole or in part by the state, the state shall also provide patients with substantially equivalent benefits, services, or information to permit them to voluntarily terminate their pregnancies, RCW 9.02.160,” the letter said.

In layman’s terms, Whitman Hospital — which operates under a taxpayer-funded public hospital district — is required under state law to offer elective abortion services if it offers birthing services.

“Thus, a public hospital district that contracts with providers that offer maternity care benefits, services, or information to patients, must also contract with a provider who will provide substantially equivalent benefits, services, or information to permit patients to voluntarily terminate their pregnancies,” Ferguson’s letter said.

According to the letter, the state was notified abortions are not offered at the hospital in Colfax, nor is any information available on the subject, prompting the letter.

“In addition, while it does not appear that the hospital district is currently contracting with any provider to offer termination services, patients are unable to reach the hospital district directly to inquire,” Ferguson wrote. “The hospital district’s current practices appear to be in violation of the RPA’s (Reproductive Privacy Act) mandate.”

Ferguson's letter said his office may sue the district if the law is not followed and district official fail to provide a detailed plan and timeline on offering abortion services.

Special meeting

During the special meeting March 6, Drs. Margaret Leland and Peter Edminister were among the first to address the board.

Leland told commissioners that workers employed or contracted by a public hospital district are prohibited from discriminating between women seeking an elective abortion and those needing health care due to a miscarriage or a necessary medically induced abortion.

Leland said the law does not require her to provide abortions.

“No one can force me to do a procedure that I’m concerned about, that I’m not trained to perform, or that I feel is not indicated,” Leland said, adding that her conversations with her patients in the clinical exam room are private. “I’m really just asking all of you to trust that I am providing appropriate medically accurate advice for all of my patients, including my pregnant patients.”

Leland said the decision to perform an elective abortion depends on the patient, their health and gestational age, and other factors.

“The board, the community, the hospital staff, etc. are not allowed into that conversation,” she said, noting there isn’t a hospital with 50 miles equipped to perform third-trimester abortions.

“These are medically complex patients that require an advanced level of care, and that is not indicated in our facility or anywhere within 50 miles of here,” Leland said.

According to the doctor, shuttering obstetrics here will impact women and infants the most.

“I feel the closing of the OB department would not only be a detriment to the community, but could harm the patients that I care for so deeply and have worked so hard to manage,” she said.