OLYMPIA – Pregnant individuals can now make critical decisions about their own healthcare wishes in the state’s advance directive laws thanks to House Bill 1215, sponsored by Rep. Jamila Taylor (D-Federal Way).
The bill, signed into law by Governor Ferguson on April 16, modifies current statute used in a model form by removing the pregnancy exclusion clause that effectively invalidates a person’s directive if they are pregnant.
“In this Washington we uphold the fundamental right of adults to determine the end-of-life care they wish to receive,” said Taylor. “Pregnancy should not be a condition that invalidates that right.”
While individuals have always had the right to add or remove language to the directive as long as it aligned with state and federal law without invalidating the legality of the form, removing the pregnancy provision eliminates any confusion.
“It’s a small change that will ensure clarity, fairness, and dignity for all Washingtonians during the hardest moments of their lives,” Taylor said. “Even if they are unconscious or no longer able to speak for themselves.”
Advance directives are typically created through consultation between a healthcare provider and patient and become part of a patient’s medical record and can be revoked at any time by the declarer.
The bill does not restrict healthcare providers from taking actions to preserve the life of a fetus if a pregnant person dies before reaching full term, and health providers may still object to participating in the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment as long as the patient has been informed in writing of the provider’s plan for situations where a directive would normally be consulted.
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