PORT TOWNSEND — The American Civil Liberties Union has accused Jefferson Healthcare of being in noncompliance with state law in its provision of abortion services.
The ACLU Seattle office said in the letter sent to the hospital Thursday that it believes that a public hospital that provides maternity care but not abortion services violates state law.
Jefferson Healthcare, which is in Port Townsend, says on its website on its “management policies” page that it refers women seeking abortion.
“Referral and informational services are provided to offer women and family choices regarding voluntary termination of pregnancy,” the website says.
The letter from Leah Rutman, ACLU’s policy counsel, asks that the hospital change its policies and practices “to fulfill its obligations under the Reproductive Privacy Act.”
The ACLU’s Seattle office sent letters of concern also to Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville and Mason General Hospital in Shelton at the same time that it filed a lawsuit alleging noncompliance against Skagit Valley Hospital on Thursday.
“We sent the letter due to our concern about the hospital’s policy that suggests that it isn’t providing a full range of reproductive services,” Rutman said.
“If a public hospital provides a wide range of maternity services, which Jefferson Healthcare does, it needs to provide a full range of termination services,” she said.
In the letter, the ACLU cites an August 2013 state attorney general opinion.
The opinion says that state law requires a public hospital that provides maternity care service or information also must provide “substantially equivalent benefits, services or information” regarding contraception and abortion.
“We express no opinion on exactly how hospital districts may comply with this requirement,” the attorney general’s opinion says.
Rutman said the ACLU is conducting an investigation of Jefferson Healthcare practices and did not rule out filing a lawsuit if the investigation results warranted.
She added that the ACLU is investigating every hospital in the state concerning this issue.
If a hospital did not receive a letter, it does not indicate the ACLU believes the hospital is in compliance with law, Rutman said.
No pregnancy termination services are available now in Jefferson County, according to Julia Danskin, a nurse with the Jefferson County Department of Public Health.
Those in need of abortions are referred to hospitals in Port Angeles, Bremerton or Seattle, Danskin said.
The letter, which was sent to the hospital board as well as to CEO Mike Glenn, was a surprise, said Jill Buhler, board chairwoman.
“I was flummoxed when I heard about this,” she said.
“We’ve always been committed to providing a full range of services including women’s health.
“We are now taking a deeper look at this.”
In an email to the Peninsula Daily News, Glenn said the letter raises some interesting legal and capacity-of-care questions for which the hospital intended to provide a thoughtful response.
“I will say that meeting community need in all service lines, including reproductive care, is very important to the board of commissioners, administration and all providers associated with Jefferson Healthcare,” Glenn said.
In the ACLU’s lawsuit against Skagit Valley Hospital, it says that patients have been routinely referred to Planned Parenthood or other private clinics when they seek abortions, rather than given such services on-site.
The dispute boils down to whether such off-site referrals are substantially equivalent to the maternity care the hospital offers.
Skagit Valley Hospital performed 1,200 deliveries in 2012 — nearly three-quarters of all births in Skagit County — but never performs abortions by medication and rarely performs surgical abortions, the ACLU said.
At a news conference Thursday, the ACLU called the referrals an unacceptable barrier to abortion rights.
In a phone call with Associated Press reporters, two hospital district executives — Dr. Connie Davis, its chief medical officer, and Balisa Koetje, its chairwoman — said Skagit Regional Health follows the law.
The ACLU is bringing the case on behalf of Kevan Coffey, a 29-year-old Mount Vernon nurse practitioner who worked at Skagit Valley Hospital for two years until last June.
“It was just accepted that we didn’t really have those services available,” she said.
She said it’s also a personal issue: She takes medication that can cause severe birth defects, and she would need an abortion if she were to become pregnant.
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The Associated Press material was used in this report.
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
