Resolution 1498RESOLUTION NO. 1498
A RESOLUTION OF THE EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL IN SUPPORT
OF ACCESS TO A FULL RANGE OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS,
INCLUDING ABORTION SERVICES, AND URGING FEDERAL AND
STATE ELECTED OFFICIALS TO CODIFY THESE RIGHTS
WHEREAS, our commitment to ensuring that Edmonds remains a welcoming, inclusive, and
safe community for all who live, work and visit Edmonds was affirmed in Resolution No. 1381,
passed by the Edmonds City Council on 1/10/2017; and
WHEREAS, reproductive freedom — including the right to make one of life's most important
decisions — whether or when to have children — is foundational to a person's autonomy, dignity,
and ability to participate fully in economic, social, and civic life; and
WHEREAS, throughout history, laws banning abortion do not stop them from happening, but
instead made them unsafe, leading to pain, suffering, loss of fertility, and even death; and
WHEREAS, in 1970, Washington state voters approved Referendum 20, making abortion
services legal in Washington State through a vote of the people; and
WHEREAS, the right to abortion services was further supported on the National level for almost
50 years as a result of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1973 (Roe v. Wade)
and 1992 (Planned Parenthood v. Casey) until Roe v Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022;
and
WHEREAS, according to reports published by the Guttmacher Institute, before Roe v. Wade,
illegal abortions were estimated to range from 200,000 to 1.2 million per year and constituted at
least 17 percent of all maternal deaths attributed to pregnancy and childbirth in 1965 alone; and
WHEREAS, according to a report published by the Guttmacher Institute, there would be a 385%
increase in the potential number of people seeking an abortion care provider here in Washington
State, which would create a burden on the care providers as well as constricting access to these
services due to the demand; and
WHEREAS, Comprehensive Abortion Care is included in the list of essential health care
services published by the World Health Organization in 2020; and
WHEREAS, the American Psychological Association states that there is a preponderance of
scientific data supporting the conclusion that freedom of choice and women's control over their
critical life decisions promotes psychological health; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the loss of national protections of access to the full range of
reproductive services, the overturn of Roe v. Wade opens the door to challenges to privacy
rights, such as same -sex marriage and access to contraception, and could also set a legal
precedent used to overturn healthcare and other legal rights for LGBTQ people, while
transgender care is already under assault; and
WHEREAS, laws restricting access to abortion disproportionately impact poor, rural, working-
class, and persons of color who may not have the resources to cover the doctor fees, travel costs,
childcare costs, and lost wages when seeking quality reproductive healthcare, because those who
are wealthy have resources to obtain needed abortion care services; and
WHEREAS, with the legalization of abortion services in the United States, these procedures
have led to safer practices and drastically reduced the incidences of maternal deaths and
hospitalizations related to abortion services;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF EDMONDS
WASHINGTON THAT:
Section 1. The Edmonds City Council adopts this resolution to express its official position in
support of amendments to the Washington State and the United States Constitutions to codify an
individual's right to comprehensive, safe, and accessible reproductive healthcare, including
abortion, contraception, gender -affirming healthcare, and marriage equality, and to urge our
federal and state legislators to act in support of said rights.
Section 2. The Edmonds City Council directs that copies of this Resolution shall be sent to
Governor Inslee and our State representatives as a means of showing our City's support for the
passage of a Washington State Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing full access to abortion
care services and increasing oversight over hospital mergers that have often interfered with the
provision of reproductive health services for all people.
Section 3. The City of Edmonds pledges to be a supportive community for people from other
states coming to the area for the full range of legal and safe reproductive services and gender -
affirming healthcare available in Washington State.
Section 4. With the passage of this Resolution, it shall be the policy of the City of Edmonds to
refrain from providing any cooperation or assistance whatsoever to any out-of-state law
enforcement agency, public entity, or private party if the matter concerns abortion -related
conduct or other reproductive health care or services that are lawful in Washington, including but
not limited to declining to cooperate with an out-of-state subpoena, search warrant, or court order
that has not been domesticated in Washington.
RESOLVED this 5TH Day of July, 2022.
I Ly, & yc+
HAEL NELSON
ATTEST/AUTHENTICATED:
CIT ERK, SCj0TtkAtSEY
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: July 5, 2022
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: July 5, 2022
RESOLUTION NO. 1498