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.
Most women discuss childbearing decisions with their spouses.
Some women, however, are afraid to do so because of the threat of violence. Others have personal, private reasons for deciding not to tell their spouses. Trusting women, the vast majority of whom make appropriate and thoughtful decisions given the facts of their situations, is far preferable to allowing the state to scrutinize and reject a woman's reasons for not informing her husband. Young women do not need parental permission to obtain an abortion in Washington. In 1975 the Washington Supreme Court overturned a parental consent requirement as an unconstitutional violation of a young woman's privacy.