CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to limited services pregnancy centers; prohibiting false and misleading advertising by limited services pregnancy centers; and adding a new Chapter 7.32 to the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, on June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (No. 19-1392) overruling the constitutional right to an
abortion established by Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, and repudiating a constitutional right to privacy; and
WHEREAS, the majority opinion in Dobbs returns the issue of whether and to what extent to provide access to
abortion to the states; and
WHEREAS, The New York Times estimates that after the Dobbs decision, with current and likely trigger laws banning
abortions in up to 24 states, as many as 17 million persons capable of being pregnant would not have access to local
abortion services; and
WHEREAS, the Guttmacher Institute has projected that after Dobbs, Washington State will see a 385 percent increase in persons traveling to the state to seek
abortion services; and
WHEREAS, through Chapter 65, Laws of 2022, the State amended Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 9.02.120, declaring: "The state shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against an individual based on their actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes"; and
WHEREAS, clinics that seek to counsel clients against
abortion have become common throughout Washington, with over 50 of them currently in operation, which is almost twice the number of full-service reproductive health clinics. These clinics are often referred to as limited service pregnancy centers (LSPCs); and
WHEREAS, many studies and research efforts, including a July 2022 consumer advisory warning issued by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, have found that LSPCs provide...
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