OLYMPIA, Wash.- The Washington State Senate passed SB 5241, colloquially referred to as the “Keep Our Care Act,” on Feb. 8. The bill would prevent hospital mergers which would limit abortion and gender-affirming care access.
A handful of major mergers between secular and religious hospitals have taken place in Washington over the past several years.
In 2021, Tacoma’s Franciscan healthcare network merged with the Virginia Mason hospital system. The merger was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), because Franciscan, a Catholic medical network, does not provide pregnancy termination services or gender affirming care.
A similar merger brought the secular Swedish hospital system and the Providence network, which was founded by a Roman Catholic religious order, together under a single brand in early 2022.
All Catholic healthcare organizations governed by the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (ERDCHS), which prohibit abortion, contraceptives and gender affirming care.
The joint Gonzaga-University of Washington Health Partnership, which is a relationship between private Catholic institution Gonzaga and public school UW, does not teach pregnancy termination.
The school states that such education is not offered in early medical school curriculum to begin with, and the program is only for the first eighteen months of medical school instruction.
SB 5241 would create barriers to mergers like the ones which have broadened Catholic influence over previously secular healthcare providers. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office would be delegated the authority to halt any mergers which could limit reproductive care and procedures related to LGBTQ+ identity under the new legislation.
Rep. Beth Doglio (D), articulated the importance of the policy to the Washington State Democratic Party.
“Democrats are standing strong, blocking these restrictive bills and passing laws to protect those seeking reproductive care, our healthcare providers, and your private healthcare data,” Doglio said.
The policy has advanced to the State House, where it will have to move through committee before it could potentially be voted upon by the entire body.
