Drafter
Clerk 06/30/2022
Title
AN ORDINANCE related to abortion services; making a supplemental appropriation of $500,000 to public health; amending the 2021-2022 Biennial Budget Ordinance, Ordinance 19210, Section 100, as amended; and declaring an emergency.
Body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. Every person must have the right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children and parent children in safe and sustainable communities.
B. About one in four people who can become pregnant has had an abortion in their lifetime.
C. Abortion is a common and safe medical procedure.
D. The United States Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, No. 19-1392 (U.S. S.Ct., June 24, 2022), which ends the United States of America's constitutional right to an abortion, will lead to increased abortion demand in King County from residents of states that ban abortions.
E. Idaho's near-total ban on abortion will take effect in less than thirty days. That will result in a drastic increase of Idaho residents seeking abortion in Washington state.
F. If local abortion services become overcapacity, King County residents in need of abortions will have to wait longer for an appointment, causing them to have later abortions that are more expensive and more medically involved.
G. The Northwest Abortion Access Fund serves people from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska by paying for abortion care, helping people get to and from abortion clinics and ensuring people travelling for care have a safe place to stay.
H. Demand for the Northwest Abortion Access Fund's services are expected to significantly increase following the United States Supreme Court's overturing of Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
I. The council has authority to enact an emergency appropriation ordinance, as set forth in Section 470.20 of the King County Charter.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 19210, Section 100, as amended, is hereby...
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