If a doctor or hospital turns down your request for an abortion, find a Planned Parenthood or other family planning clinic in your area to advise you. The family planning or women's health care clinic in your area can also give you advice about obtaining financial assistance. The timing of an abortion is the decision of the woman and her health care provider. There are no set waiting periods in Washington law, just as there are no set waiting periods for other surgeries. Waiting periods have been ruled illegal because they are politically motivated, not medically motivated.
All medical procedures require the informed consent of the patient.
Abortion is no different. Typically these proposals require the physician to recite to the pregnant woman medically unsound and unscientific information. Because a patient's informed consent to any medical treatment is already required, it is clear that the purpose of these proposals is to scare or shame a woman into not having an abortion. Washington law prohibits doctors from disclosing certain sensitive information about their patients to other persons, including spouses or parents, without the written consent of the patient. A husband cannot prevent a wife from having an abortion in Washington.