The Law in Washington Pertaining to Minors’ Access to
Abortion
There is no forced parental involvement law for minors
seeking abortions in Washington. A minor who wishes to obtain an abortion
may do so without any legal requirement that she involve her parents or
that she seek a court order exempting her from forced parental involvement
requirements.
CCPA will override Washington’s law for some minors obtaining abortions
in Washington by requiring enforcement of other states’ laws within
Washington’s borders. Despite the Washington Legislature’s rejection of
this requirement for minors obtaining abortions, some people within the
state of Washington – some minors and Washington abortion providers – will
be required to comply with forced parental involvement laws of other
states.
States such as Washington are most likely to be visited by minors in
need of abortions. These states will bear the burden of having their
medical personnel and clinic staff subject to potential liability from a
number of complex provisions regarding conspiracy, accomplice and
accessory liability.
The Effect of CCPA on Washington Resident
Minors
Washington minors seeking abortions in Washington will
be subject to Washington law and will not be forced to involve their
parents prior to obtaining an abortion in Washington.
Washington minors who are accompanied by a trusted relative or friend
to an out-of-state abortion provider will have to comply – as they
currently do – with the forced parental involvement law of the state to
which they travel, if there is such a law. CCPA does not permit Washington
minors to obtain the benefit of their home state’s less restrictive law
even though, as described below, CCPA would require minors from states
with “strict” laws to comply with their home states’ law under the same
circumstances.
The Effect of CCPA on Minors Traveling into
Washington
Non-resident minors who are accompanied by a
relative or friend to a Washington abortion provider normally would not be
forced to involve their parents prior to obtaining an abortion in
Washington. However, CCPA supplants Washington law if the minor is from a
state whose law is as “strict” as CCPA.
For example, a minor from Wyoming may have family in Washington and
want to be close to them when she obtains an abortion. If the minor
travels to Washington alone, she will not be required to comply with
Wyoming’s forced parental involvement requirements. However, if she
travels to Washington with a trusted relative or friend, she must both
notify one parent at least forty-eight hours prior to the abortion and
obtain written consent from one parent or obtain a judicial bypass in
Wyoming in order to comply with Wyoming law. If the minor fails to comply
with Nebraska’s requirements, the non-parent and the abortion provider
risk criminal and civil penalties under CCPA.
The Effect of CCPA on Washington Providers
Under CCPA,
Washington health care providers who know that a minor has been
transported across state lines by a non-parent would be at risk from a
number of complex provisions regarding conspiracy, accomplice and
accessory liability. In order to avoid liability, a Washington provider
would have to determine whether the minor seeking an abortion is from
another state; whether she was accompanied across state lines by a
non-parent; whether, under CCPA, she is required to comply with the forced
parental involvement law of her home state and, if so, whether she did. If
a Washington provider determines a violation of another state’s law
exists, the provider would be forced to deny services to the minor and
report the accompanying person to the authorities or risk liability
himself.
Therefore, Washington health care providers would need to be familiar
with, and be ready to comply with, the laws of all fifty states and the
District of Columbia before proceeding with an abortion.
As a proposed addition to the federal Criminal Code, CCPA
would be read with other provisions of the Code, including conspiracy,
accomplice liability and accessory liability. Attempts to amend CCPA to
limit the scope of liability to the principal who commits the offence were
repeatedly rejected by the bill’s sponsors during the 105th and 106th
Congresses.
WYO. STAT. ANN. §§ 35-6-101, et seq. (Michie 2000)
