Tag Archives: Reproductive Health

Voices

OPINION | South Sound Reproductive Health Activists Debunk False Promises of Crisis Pregnancy Centers

by Megan Burbank

On a sunny Saturday a year after Roe v. Wade was overturned, representatives from service providers and community organizations — everyone from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project to the Girl Scouts — stood behind tables lining a path at Tacoma’s Wright Park, steps from an array of picnic-table birthday parties, a congested playground and adjacent splash pad, and a botanical conservatory and foliage drawing yellow butterflies. Anyone who happened to stroll along could stop by to sign up for cash or food assistance, learn about accessing medical care through Medicaid, or just grab a lollipop. You wouldn’t know by the look of it that the event, the Grit City Community Resource Fair, was crafted as a response to crisis pregnancy centers, right-wing-operated groups that offer nominal resources, like free pregnancy testing, as part of a coordinated agenda to dissuade people from having abortions.

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News

After a Key Legislative Cutoff, Bills Protecting Washington Abortion Providers and Patients Are Still in Play

by Megan Burbank

Last spring, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade leaked, Washington lawmakers gathered in Seattle’s Kerry Park and promised a future of legislative remedies to ensure continued abortion access in the state. In this year’s legislative session, several were introduced, with new protections for providers and patients.

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Voices

OPINION | UW’s Investigation Into DIY Sexual Assault Kits Shows How Companies Benefit From Real Inequities

by Megan Burbank

At the end of October, Attorney General Bob Ferguson sent a cease-and-desist letter to Leda Health, a company marketing DIY test kits to survivors of sexual assault. The cease-and-desist was prompted by a complaint filed by the Associated Students of the University of Washington after the student newspaper, The Daily, found that the test kits, which Leda Health had promoted through a partnership with a UW sorority, weren’t admissible in court.

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Features

Washington Birth Doulas Advocated for a Pathway to Certification — and Won

by Megan Burbank

With Gov. Jay Inslee’s signoff, birth doulas in Washington State have established their work as a profession based on voluntary competency-based state certification, paving the way for reimbursement under Medicaid. ESHB 1881 passed both chambers in Olympia earlier this month, where it drew broad support, passing with a wide margin of 85–8, backing from both parties in the House, and unanimous support in the Senate, according to a media release from Surge Reproductive Justice, an organization backing the legislation. It was among a docket of bills Inslee signed into law on Wednesday, March 30, in a ceremony at the State Capitol streamed live on TVW.

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Features

Stalled Bill Would Have Protected Reproductive Health When Hospitals Merge

by Megan Burbank

When hospital systems merge, it can result in patients losing access to critical medical treatments, including reproductive health care and medical aid in dying. But a new bill introduced in this year’s legislative session offers a potential solution: a system of strengthened oversight and transparency that would require hospitals to spell out policies on these types of care before a merger is even approved.

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News

New Community Birth Center Expands Access in the South Sound

by Bunthay Cheam

On Wednesday, Dec. 1, Terri Chi-Lee held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Community Birth Center (CBC) in Lacey. It is the first BIPOC/Woman-owned birth center in the South Sound area and the first Khmer-owned birth center in Washington State.

The event — which was attended by a crowd of Chi-Lee’s family, patients, and friends — began with a blessing ceremony by Khmer Buddhist Monks from Wat Prachum Raingsey temple in Yelm.

“It was really special — a little overwhelming,” said Chi-Lee of the event. “I wasn’t expecting that many people … I can’t believe that it’s true and real and that I achieved it, you know? I always dream big. I’ve always dreamed big my whole life.”

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