EVERETT — Don’t look for any immediate changes at Snohomish County’s three tax-supported public hospitals due to a Skagit County judge’s recent ruling on abortion.
For now, the decision holding that public hospitals that provide maternity services must also provide abortions on site applies only to Skagit Regional Health, a hospital and clinic group based in Mount Vernon, said Mary Kay Clunies-Ross, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Hospital Association.
“It’s really about what’s happening in Skagit County,” she said. “It’s way too early to know what will happen next.”
Only Skagit Regional Health has the legal standing to launch an appeal so it’s up to the hospital to decide how to respond, she said.
In Snohomish County there are three public hospitals. Each get part of their income by taxing property owners. They are in Edmonds, Monroe and Arlington.
All three are operated by larger health care organizations. The Edmonds hospital is managed by Seattle-based Swedish. The Monroe hospital is operated by EvergreenHealth in Kirkland. As of June 1, the Arlington hospital is operated by Skagit Regional Health, which is involved in the lawsuit.
Kari Ranten, a spokeswoman for Skagit Regional Health, said in an email that the hospital “is reviewing the ruling and deciding on our next steps.”
Fred Langer, a board member of Swedish Edmonds, said he didn’t think the Skagit judge’s ruling would have an immediate impact.
“What I can tell you is it won’t affect the day-to-day operation of the hospital for the foreseeable future,” Langer said.
The overwhelming majority of elective abortions are done in out-patient clinics, he said. Langer said he hasn’t heard of anyone who lives in the hospital district being denied reproductive services or “birth control of any kind.”
Langer, who is an attorney, said he thinks the issue will be appealed. “This is a decision that ultimately will be decided by a higher court,” he said.
Kay Taylor, a spokeswoman for EvergreenHealth, said the organization feels it is meeting the requirements of state law.
If an abortion is requested by the patient, physicians would make a referral “and help people get into clinics if that’s what it takes to ensure the service can be provided,” said Nancee Hofmeister, Evergreen’s chief nursing officer.
The lawsuit was filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, as part of an effort to ensure public health care facilities follow the state’s abortion rights law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, passed by voter initiative in 1991.
Skagit Regional Health, like many area hospitals, refers patients seeking abortions to outside clinics, such as Planned Parenthood.
The state Attorney General’s office filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, arguing that state law requires that when maternity care services are provided, “substantially equivalent abortion services must also be provided.”
Technically, the Skagit County judge’s ruling so far applies solely to the hospital district sued in the case, Peter Lavallee, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office said in an email.
“But we believe the ruling accurately states the law, and other hospital districts should review it carefully and make sure they are in compliance with the Reproductive Privacy Act,” he said.
Hospitals that opted to provide elective abortions on site would face another issue, Clunies-Ross said. Employers can’t discriminate in hiring or ask staff how they feel about performing abortions, she said.
“Hospitals are in a tough position,” she said. “Regardless of the court ruling, there still may not be providers or staff willing to perform them.”
This story includes material from the Associated Press.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
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