The Department of Health released its report to the governor on Executive Order 25-01, containing recommendations to protect and facilitate access to reproductive health and gender-affirming care in Washington State. We are pleased to report that our advocacy efforts have made positive impacts to the report’s recommendations for changes to data disclosure and EMTALA laws.
State law on data disclosure (section four in the report) was updated to reflect concerns about potential sharing of gender identity data required to be collected by the state through electronic health record systems. We were concerned that the data could be sent to and used by other states where laws could endanger transgender patients, especially minors. DOH’s report requests a revision to state law.
Regarding EMTALA (section 13 in the report), the language in the report originally called for additional regulations and penalties. We successfully advocated against these regulations and penalties, as the legislature enacted a new law providing protections in 2025 and penalties for non-compliance already existed in statute. (Taya Briley)