WA: Keiser bill to safeguard access to abortion medication passes Senate committee
OLYMPIA – Washingtonians would be guaranteed uninterrupted access to the safe, effective medication used in nearly 60% of abortions in the state, under a bill that passed the Senate Ways & Means Committee today.
At the direction of Gov. Jay Inslee, the state Department of Corrections (DOC) has purchased a three-year supply of mifepristone using its existing statutory authority and pharmacy license.
SB 5768 would give DOC the authority to distribute or sell the medication to clinics around the state.
These actions are intended to ensure the abortion medication remains available in Washington even if manufacturing were to be paused due to the uncertainty created by two federal lawsuits regarding the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, in which judges have issued potentially conflicting rulings.
“The people of Washington have demonstrated time and again — in polls and at the ballot box — that we support the right to reproductive freedom,” said Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Des Moines), the bill’s sponsor. “But that right means nothing without actual access to care.
https://senatedemocrats.wa.gov/blog/2023/04/12/keiser-bill-to-safeguard-access-to-abortion-medication-passes-senate-committee/
