Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (Position 8, Citywide), Chair of Council’s Housing, Health, Energy and Workers’ Rights Committee (HHEWR), issued the following statement in response to the Washington State Attorney General’s plan to sue the Trump administration over the “gag rule” impacting family planning providers:
“The Trump administration cannot silence us – we are shouting our objection to the ‘gag-rule’ across this country. This attack on women and Title X is illegal, immoral and unconscionable. When women have access to birth control, we are more likely to have greater opportunity and economic stability. When women have access to safe and legal abortions, we prevent death and trauma. When we recognize that women must have access to full and accurate information from their healthcare provider, we are treating them with the respect and dignity that every person deserves. Women’s health and reproductive choices are ours, not something that can be dictated or controlled by the whims of one individual. Today Washington State is proud, yet again, to have Attorney General Bob Ferguson fighting for our community’s basic human rights.”