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SB 5557

Providing pay equity for part-time faculty.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Steve Conway and 13 co-sponsors

SB 5557 codifies emergency rules ensuring pregnant people get timely, standard-of-care emergency treatment (including abortion when medically indicated) with informed consent.

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
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Bill Summary · SB 5557

SB 5557 — Codifying emergency rules to protect pregnant persons’ access to emergency treatment (Chapter 182, 2025 Laws)

Status and timeline
- Bill number: SB 5557 (Engrossed Substitute passed legislature)
- Sponsors: Senate Committee on Health & Long-Term Care (multiple senators)
- Passed Senate: 3/5/2025 (30–19); Passed House: 4/11/2025 (84–12)
- Governor signed: 4/29/2025 — effective immediately (contains emergency clause)
- Amends/creates: reenacts and amends RCW 70.41.020; adds a new section to chapter 70.41 RCW; amends RCW 70.170.060

Purpose and intent
- To codify Department of Health emergency rules and clarify state law protections so that pregnant persons seeking emergency care in hospital emergency departments have clear, statutory access to medically appropriate emergency treatment — including, when medically indicated, termination of pregnancy — irrespective of federal uncertainties.
- To align state requirements with federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) protections and to ensure hospitals follow standards of care and patient informed consent in emergency settings.

Key provisions — what the law requires
1. Requirement to provide emergency treatment
- Hospitals providing emergency services must treat a pregnant person who presents with an emergency medical condition consistent with the applicable standard of care, or — if authorized by law — transfer the patient to another hospital capable of providing the treatment, with the patient’s informed consent.
- If termination of pregnancy is the treatment consistent with the standard of care, the hospital must provide that treatment promptly as dictated by the standard of care, or transfer as authorized and with informed consent.

  1. Prohibition on prioritizing fetal interests over pregnant person

    • Neither continuation of pregnancy nor the health of any embryo or fetus may be a basis for withholding care from the pregnant person, nor may fetal health be prioritized over the pregnant person’s health or safety absent the pregnant person’s informed consent.

  2. Definition of “emergency medical condition”

    • A condition where absence of immediate medical attention could: (a) place the health of an individual — or for pregnant persons, the health of the pregnant person or embryo/fetus — in serious jeopardy; (b) cause serious impairment to bodily functions; or (c) cause serious organ dysfunction.
    • For pregnant persons in contractions, includes situations where there is inadequate time for safe transfer before delivery or transfer would threaten health/safety.
    • Explicitly enumerates certain pregnancy emergencies: ectopic pregnancy; emergent complications of pregnancy or pregnancy loss; previable preterm premature rupture of membranes; emergent placental abnormalities; emergent hypertensive disorders (e.g., preeclampsia).

  3. Hospital transfer and administrative obligations (amendment to RCW 70.170.060)

    • Hospitals may not deny emergency care based on ability to pay.
    • Hospitals with emergency departments may not transfer a patient with an emergency medical condition or in active labor except at the patient’s request or due to limited resources.
    • When transfers occur, they must be made as promptly as dictated by the standard of care and follow reasonable procedures (including confirmation that the receiving hospital accepts the transfer).
    • The Department of Health must adopt rules and monitor compliance; it must report possible noncompliance to the state attorney general or appropriate federal agency.

Who is affected
- Pregnant persons seeking emergency care: protects access to medically appropriate emergency treatments, including medically necessary pregnancy termination in emergencies.
- Hospitals and emergency departments: new statutory duties to provide treatment consistent with standard of care, manage transfers properly, document informed consent, and comply with monitoring/reporting obligations.
- Clinicians: required to deliver evidence‑based emergency care consistent with standard of care and patient informed consent.
- State Department of Health and Attorney General: rulemaking, monitoring, and enforcement roles.

Enforcement, fiscal, and other notes
- The Department of Health will develop definitions and monitor hospital compliance; the department reports instances of possible noncompliance to the state attorney general or federal agencies.
- No specific appropriation is contained in the enacted version; a fiscal note was available during consideration.
- The bill contains an emergency clause and took effect on signing (4/29/2025).

Bottom line
SB 5557 places into statute the Department of Health’s emergency rules and EMTALA‑consistent obligations to ensure that pregnant persons presenting to hospital emergency departments receive timely, standard‑of‑care emergency treatment — including, when medically necessary, termination of pregnancy — and that fetal interests cannot be used to withhold or delay care without the pregnant person’s informed consent.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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