by Megan Burbank

If you have an abortion in Washington State, you might not see a provider with an M.D. after their name. That’s normal. In our state, with requisite training and certification, advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) and physician assistants (PAs) can become abortion providers, and a new bill introduced in this year’s legislative session would make it official. This proposed change to Washington’s Reproductive Privacy Act, which codified abortion rights statewide in 1991, is one of several changes raised in the new bill, known as the Affirm Washington Abortion Access Act (HB 1851/SB 5766).