Adopted by the membership at the January 12, 2022 meeting.
Whereas, many regions in Washington State have limited health care access; that is, with perhaps only one clinic and/or one hospital; and
Whereas, mergers and acquisitions in the Washington health care system have led to a near monopoly by certain healthcare institutions and hospitals; and
Whereas, some hospital ‘ethics committees’ may not be educated on dangerous health outcomes that surround denials of LGBTQ, and reproductive healthcare; yet all clinics and health care institutions receive significant amounts of federal and state funding through Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements, and may, therefore, be considered federal contractors; and
Whereas, some Washington State healthcare institutions are placing arbitrary limits on legal, medically accepted health procedures, and legally and medically approved reproductive and LGBTQ healthcare procedures; and
Whereas, some hospitals and healthcare institutions across the State are delaying and denying this legally and medically approved reproductive and LGBTQ care, using tactics which discriminate primarily against women, BIPOC communities, low income residents, and the LGBTQ community, thus endangering their mental and physical health, if not their lives. These hospitals and healthcare organizations are trafficking in discriminatory actions leading to neglect, cruelty, lack of service, and poor health outcomes; some healthcare organizations also fail to recognize the right of Washington State patients to use the State’s “death with dignity” law; and
Whereas, some hospitals and healthcare providers are putting their discriminatory regulations above Washington State laws and regulations and their patients’ well-being; and
Whereas, no Washington State health care institutions should be permitted to engage in healthcare restrictions that are intrinsically discriminatory against any race, sex, or LGBTQ status, and therefore damaging to patients’ mental and physical health; and
Whereas, by restricting or eliminating such procedures as family planning and contraceptives, tubal ligations, abortions, vasectomies, IVF treatments, and transgender surgeries, discriminatory health care systems in Washington State force their patients to abide by restrictions that are sexist, misogynistic, and anti-LGBTQ against their will, since in both urban and semi-isolated areas of Washington they may have only one clinic or hospital available to them. These patients are therefore effectively discriminated against, and prohibited from exercising their own rights in terms of their healthcare, and it is a violation of those patients’ civil rights.
Therefore, be it resolved that all healthcare institutions within the boundaries of Washington State cannot restrict any legal medical procedures when requested by patients. Public policy must protect women in need of reproductive health services, as well as BIPOC and LGBTQ patients, and the medical practitioners who would otherwise be prohibited from providing essential, medically comprehensive, and legal services when in discriminatory healthcare settings;
Therefore, be it further resolved that patients must be allowed any legal medical procedure which aligns with their own personal beliefs, rather than that of any institution acting as a patriarchal Big Brother, which could force patients into situations against standard ‘best-practice’ medical advice in Washington State, and therefore dangerous to their personal mental and physical health; this would also be pro forma discrimination under Washington State law;
Therefore, be it finally resolved that It should fall to the Washington State Department of Health to ensure that all healthcare systems in Washington State, from this time forward, align themselves with best medical practices and best evidentiary outcomes, and that all procedures legal under Washington State law therefore be offered to patients. No Washington State healthcare provider, or hospital, should be allowed to discriminate in terms of health care services to their patients, whoever those patients are. Everyone deserves medically comprehensive, legal, quality health care, but not everyone is receiving it at this time.
Submitted by Roxanne Thayer as shared from 30th LD and modified by the 34th LD
Note: In the event that this Resolution affects religious health care institutions,
Article 1 of the Bill of Rights recognizes that the United States encompasses a multitude of religions and beliefs, all of which may have differing definitions of ‘morality’, differing definitions of Scripture, and entirely different modes of worship. Providing and delivering non-discriminatory, medically comprehensive, and legal health care, should be defined and enforced only by the State of Washington.