Washington must NOT become Texas

We are facing a major battle on reproductive rights.

Last week, Texas passed the most restrictive anti-choice bill in the country. Even worse, the Supreme Court, set to consider a repeal of Roe v. Wade this term, refused to step in and uphold the long-existing law of the land.

What happened in Texas is a threat to reproductive health and personal rights everywhere. Texas's six-week abortion ban effectively prohibits Texans from accessing critical reproductive health care, even in cases of rape and incest. And in the week since, emboldened by the Court's silence, states like South Dakota have introduced increasingly-restrictive measures in defiance of Roe.

This is wrong.

These decisions are deeply personal and private, and should be made between patients and their health care providers. It is abhorrent that so many Republicans in Texas and in Congress believe controlling women's bodies should be a matter for politicians.

I will always fight to protect access to reproductive health care. I am a cosponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act, a bill that would codify Roe v. Wade into federal law. We must get this bill passed.

I am proud that Washington state is a national leader in recognizing the right to safe, affordable, and accessible reproductive care. We must fight back to ensure that reproductive rights are protected now and into the future — in Texas, and everywhere else.

Rick