Washington and Minnesota Sign Laws Protecting People Seeking Abortions, Gender-Affirming Treatment

Washington and Minnesota won’t cooperate with attempts to prosecute out-of-state patients seeking reproductive or gender-affirming procedures and treatment, under new laws signed Thursday by the two states’ Democratic governors.

They’re the latest liberal states to enact legal safeguards as Republican legislators across the country are rushing to block or limit transgender and abortion health care. More than a dozen states have effectively banned abortion outright in the year since the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade.

“Freedom of choice is a health care issue. We are protecting access to health care,” said Gov. Jay Inslee, who wore a pink tie to the outdoor bill signing ceremony in Seattle.

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