Washington, Minnesota protect access to abortion, gender-affirming care

April 27 (UPI) -- The Democratic governors of Washington and Minnesota on Thursday signed legislation to protect access to abortion and gender-affirming care in their states as their Republican counterparts the nation over seek to restrict and ban the medical procedures.

The move comes as both medical treatments have come under attack by Republican-led states, resulting in more than a dozen to ban abortion following last summer's U.S. Supreme Court decision to repeal federal protections for the procedure.

More than 15 states have also banned gender-affirming care for minors, according to the Movement Advancement Project, despite most major medical associations supporting such treatment while calling on politicians to leave medical decisions to patients and their doctors.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed House Bill 1469 to prohibit compliance with out-of-state subpoenas related to abortion and gender-affirming-care services and abortion- and gender-affirming care-related extradition requests as well as prevent cooperation with related out-of-state investigations while protecting providers in-state from harassment.

He also signed House Bill 1340, which protects healthcare providers from disciplinary actions, and the so-called My Health, My Data Act, which state Democrats call a "historic and first-in-the-nation solution" to protect the personal health information collected by websites, smartphone apps and health tracking devices, with intent to protect those who visit the state for abortion or gender-affirming care.

Senate Bill 5242, which increases access to abortion care by eliminating cost-sharing abortions, and Senate Bill 5768, which protects access to abortion-inducting medication mifepristone amid Republican-led litigation to end its use, were also signed Thursday.

"The right of choice is an issue of freedom," Inslee said in a statement. "Healthcare must remain the providence of individual Washingtonians. These laws will keep the tentacles of oppressive and overreaching states out of Washington."

The signings were met with cheers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which described the state as demonstrating that it's a leader in protecting and improving access to both reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare.

"These bills are important steps toward defending and expanding abortion and gender-affirming care access, here and through their example, across the country," Leah Rutman, healthcare and liberty policy counsel at the ACLU of Washington, said in a statement.

In Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz signed a pair of bills that protect people traveling from out-of-state for abortion and gender-affirming care with a third measure signed to ban conversion therapy, making the Midwestern state the 21st to do so, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

"In Minnesota, we're protecting rights -- not taking them away," he tweeted.

State Rep. Leigh Rinke, Minnesota's first transgender lawmaker, called Thursday "an amazing, celebratory day in the movement for a more just future."