Protecting Reproductive Freedom

Abortion is health care — and it’s under attack in Washington and across the country.

A champion for reproductive freedom, Bob is the only candidate endorsed by Planned Parenthood and Pro-Choice Washington. He is the only candidate you can trust to protect your reproductive freedom.

In a post-Dobbs world, proactive, affirmative leadership is required to protect access to essential reproductive health care services.

When a radical anti-choice federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide ban on safe and effective abortion medication known as mifepristone, which is used for half of all abortions nationwide, Bob was ready. He took a leadership role with nationwide significance when he brought a separate lawsuit in federal court in Spokane to expand access to the same medication.

Bob followed through on his promise to do everything in his power to protect access to reproductive health care after the cruel Dobbs decision. He and his team had the foresight to craft the legal argument that was not being raised anywhere else. He demonstrated the courage to take on a president of his own party and the leadership necessary to bring together a large coalition of 18 states, and won a critical injunction hours after the Texas judge ruled. That victory protected millions of women across the country until an appellate court paused the ruling.

Bob’s leadership did not stop there. His legal team helped Governor Inslee and Washington state agencies acquire a three-year stockpile of mifepristone. And he worked with legislators to craft and adopt landmark privacy protections for data connected to reproductive health care.

In contrast, Dave Reichert voted three times for a nationwide abortion ban that criminalized doctors who perform abortions — even in Washington. He repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood. The Seattle Times accurately described him as an “anti-abortion stalwart.” He said that abortion is “taking a life.”

Bob has been a champion for reproductive health care access his entire career in public service.

Bob Ferguson’s Record Defending Reproductive Freedom:

When a federal judge in Texas blocked access to abortion medication, Bob led the multistate lawsuit that protected access for Washingtonians and individuals in all of the states that joined Bob’s lawsuit.
When President Trump adopted his rule to impair health coverage for abortion, Bob filed a successful lawsuit in federal court in Washington state.
Bob was one of the first state attorneys general to file a legal challenge to President Trump’s “contraception rule,” which sought to allow companies to deny health coverage for women’s contraception on the basis of moral and religious objection. He filed his challenge in federal court in Seattle the next business day after Trump announced his rule, calling the policy “discriminatory and illegal.”
Bob successfully blocked President Trump’s Title X “Gag Rule” — a transparent attack on Planned Parenthood that would have harmed low-income Washingtonians. Bob filed the lawsuit in the Eastern District because of its impact on low-income, rural women. The “Gag Rule” would have left low-income women in 21 Washington counties without affordable access to reproductive health care, and would have prevented Title X providers from referring women to an abortion provider, even if the woman requests a referral. “President Trump is illegally inserting ideological politics between a woman and her doctor,” Bob said. On April 25, less than a week before the Title X rule was set to take effect, Judge Bastian, U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Washington, granted a nationwide preliminary injunction, blocking the “Gag Rule” from going into effect anywhere in the country — the first injunction of its kind issued against the “Gag Rule.”
After the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade, Bob promised to always protect access to abortion for all Washingtonians, and to do everything in his power to ensure Washington would be a safe haven for individuals coming to Washington to access reproductive freedom and abortion providers. He assembled a team in his office to do that.
After Dobbs, Bob sent a letter to Washington’s medical commissions seeking protections for out-of-state medical providers coming to Washington fleeing persecution in anti-choice states.
After Dobbs, Bob sent a letter to all Washington sheriffs and police chiefs informing them of Washington’s law protecting abortion clinics from harassment.
Bob led an 18-state letter urging Congress to protect reproductive rights, including abortion. Bob’s letter called for a number of reforms to protect reproductive freedom, including changes in health insurance policy to increase access to reproductive health care, a federal program to fund nonprofits that provide abortion care, preemption against state restrictions on abortion-related medication, express permission for the U.S. Postal Service to distribute FDA-approved abortion-related medication, and data privacy laws to protect rights of people seeking reproductive care.
After Dobbs, Bob wrote, proposed, and helped pass the landmark My Health, My Data Act to protect health data privacy connected to reproductive health care.
Bob brought together a range of stakeholders to launch resources to connect individuals to free legal counsel related to reproductive freedom.
Bob published a Know Your Rights document that was widely circulated after Dobbs.
Demonstrating his values, Bob directed approximately $200,000 to the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bremerton following his successful antitrust lawsuit against CHI Franciscan for establishing a monopoly on the Kitsap Peninsula.
Bob issued a legal opinion that public hospitals that provide maternal services must also provide reproductive health care. Basing his opinion on the language in Initiative 120, or the Reproductive Privacy Act, Ferguson found that religious hospitals merging with public hospital districts must continue providing reciprocal care. HIs opinion preserved access to reproductive health care for patients in these communities. "People should be excited that the attorney general affirmed what Washington voters have affirmed seven or eight times now — that women and men have the right to make their own reproductive choices," said Lisa Stone, Executive Director of the women's legal rights group, Legal Voice, at the time. "Maternity services in this state are defined very broadly, and the attorney general has made it clear that if any public funds are used for maternity services, cleverly structured transactions [i.e. hospital mergers] should not succeed in stripping women's right to contraception and abortion." [The Stranger, August 21, 2013]
Bob defended Planned Parenthood from anti-choice lawmakers accusing Planned Parenthood of breaking the law. In late July 2015, 38 Republican state representatives and 13 Republican state senators wrote a letter asking Bob to investigate whether the state's Planned Parenthood clinics were selling fetal parts. Bob reviewed the facts and set the record straight, clearing Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing. In his response letter, he wrote that his office “found no indication that procedures performed by Planned Parenthood are anything other than performance of a legally authorized medical procedure.” He also “found no basis to believe that Planned Parenthood is selling fetal tissue or profiting from fetal-tissue donations.” Bob wrote, “Unfounded allegations against Planned Parenthood are troubling. They seek to discredit the organization and divert resources away from patient services, making it more difficult for Washington women to exercise their constitutional rights. We conducted a review and found no evidence of any violations and no basis for further review.”
Bob helped Planned Parenthood block harassment of a Spokane Planned Parenthood clinic perpetrated by an anti-choice group calling itself the “Church of Planned Parenthood” by submitting a brief cited by the court.
Before and after the Dobbs decision, Bob fought against radical abortion bans across the country, including Idaho, Kentucky, and Louisiana. Bob supported the Department of Justice’s successful challenge to Idaho’s extreme anti-abortion law that made no exceptions for the health of the mother.

This is the leadership Washingtonians demand in the face of incessant attacks on reproductive freedom. Having a Governor who understands the legal landscape will help our state respond to emergencies and attacks on freedom — both anticipated and unanticipated. Bob is the only candidate in this race to demonstrate that leadership, and the only candidate with the experience to deliver that leadership.

As Governor, Bob will take the following actions to protect the Right to Choose for all Washingtonians.

Bob Ferguson’s Plan to Protect Washingtonians’ Reproductive Freedom

Stand up to radical efforts to ban abortion nationwide. There is a radical effort to ban abortion everywhere. Dave Reichert voted for a nationwide abortion ban three times while in Congress. As Governor, Bob will use his bully pulpit and relationship with the federal delegation to oppose efforts in Congress to impair Washingtonians’ right to access reproductive health care. He will stand up to judicial nominees who will restrict reproductive freedoms. And he will work with Washington’s Attorney General to challenge any federal actions that harm Washingtonians’ freedoms.

Bob believes the privacy protections in the Washington State Constitution protect Washingtonians’ reproductive freedom. But, if necessary, he will pursue a Constitutional Amendment to protect against future legislative efforts to erode those protections. Unfortunately, this will not protect Washington from a nationwide ban like the one Dave Reichert repeatedly voted for.

Protect My Health, My Data to keep your sensitive health data out of the wrong hands. Bob proposed and helped pass the My Health, My Data Act. Thanks to Bob, this law protects Washingtonians’ most sensitive health data and keeps it out of the wrong hands, including radical anti-choice prosecutors in anti-choice states. Bob will oppose all efforts to repeal these important protections.

Pass the Keep Our Care Act to preserve Washingtonians’ access to care in the face of increasing health care consolidation. Approximately half of all Washington hospital beds are within hospitals affiliated with the Catholic Church, which are guided by ethical and religious directives that restrict doctors’ ability to provide abortion and other services, including some services for transgender patients and “death with dignity” assistance. Bob supports providing the Washington Attorney General with the power to oversee and block hospital mergers and affiliations if they reduce Washingtonians’ access to these core services.

Ensure adequate funding for Planned Parenthood and other non-profit providers. Federal law prohibits funding for abortion services, so Washington state must step up to ensure the most vulnerable can access reproductive health care. Planned Parenthood saw a 20% increase in the number of patients coming into Washington for care last summer, and these numbers could continue to increase. Bob will ensure Planned Parenthood, Cedar River Clinics, and other essential providers have the resources they need to maintain access to care, especially in underserved rural communities.

Help individuals in rural communities access reproductive health care. Washingtonians in certain rural communities must drive hours to access a clinic that provides reproductive health care. In 2024, Bob worked with the Legislature to establish a fund that allows University of Washington Medicine to connect Washingtonians in these communities with care, including travel costs to the nearest clinic. Bob will maintain this fund as Governor.

Protect access to contraception, emergency contraception, and abortion medication. As Governor, Bob will ensure that Washingtonians’ health care coverage, whether through the state or their employer, covers contraception. He will ensure that pharmacies must provide emergency contraception such as Plan B. He will continue working to eliminate the unnecessary barriers to access abortion medication, and he will maintain Washington’s surplus of mifepristone in case a federal judge issues another nationwide injunction that restricts or blocks access to abortion medication.

Shield individuals who come to Washington for reproductive health care, as well as those who facilitate care, from criminal and civil prosecutions in other states. Bob and his team helped craft Washington’s Shield Law and he’s helping to enforce it. As Governor, Bob will work to ensure that individuals fleeing radical anti-choice laws can come to Washington for their health care with the assurance that they will not be criminally or civilly prosecuted, and that those helping others get the care they need are also protected.