Politicians like Tiffany Smiley say abortion is safe in WA. We don’t believe them

Last week, Senate hopeful and anti-abortion Republican Tiffany Smiley went to Texas to see for herself what she described as the “devastating consequences of the open border with Mexico.”

As reproductive health care providers, we — along with 42 other providers who supported us in writing this op-ed — hope that Smiley’s visit to Texas also gave her an opportunity to witness firsthand the horrific consequences of the abortion ban she has publicly supported.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, many states have moved quickly to implement abortion bans — but Texas has one of the most extreme abortion laws in the nation. Today, virtually all abortions are banned in Texas — including in cases of rape or incest — and providers can face prison time for performing abortions.

Smiley has repeatedly called herself “100 percent pro-life,” so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she says she agrees with the Texas abortion ban. Her extreme position is at odds with the vast majority of Washington voters — and she knows it. That’s why she and other Republicans have begun to insist that Washington is “safe” from anything like Texas’s abortion ban in a post-Roe world. We don’t believe them.

As reproductive health care providers, we are proud to live and work in a state where our patients’ rights and autonomy are protected under today’s laws — but we feel compelled to speak up about the urgent need to not become complacent. Tiffany Smiley’s commentary first caught our eye when, after praising the overturning of Roe, she claimed that the Supreme Court had returned the decision about whether to have an abortion to “the people.”

But the Supreme Court did the exact opposite. The Court took the deeply personal decision of whether to have a child away from people — and handed that choice to politicians in state legislatures and Washington, DC.

Still, the Supreme Court’s decision isn’t enough for many Republicans, some of whom are eyeing a national abortion ban if they retake the Senate. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) is reportedly leading efforts to draft a national abortion ban, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has questioned the constitutionality of birth control. They were among the first to endorse Smiley’s campaign.

Smiley is far from the only extreme anti-choice candidate running in Washington this fall. U.S. House candidates this cycle include Joe Kent in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, who called abortion an “evil stain on our humanity,” and Matt Larkin in the 8th District, who has said he only supports abortion when a mother’s life is in danger and that he doesn’t believe in making exceptions in cases of rape or incest. State House Rep. Jesse Young, who sponsored a bill to make abortion a felony in Washington, is running for state Senate.

If we’ve learned one thing from the events of the past few months, it’s that we can’t take reproductive rights for granted — when it comes to abortion, nothing is “settled.” The only way to protect abortion access in Washington state is to elect public servants who support the right to choose.

Politicians like Tiffany Smiley who say differently are telling you a lie that stretches all the way from Texas to Seattle.

Ashley Fedan is a certified registered nurse anesthetist and advanced registered nurse practitioner and reproductive healthcare advocate. She cares for patients across the Puget Sound area.