House Bill 2176
Year: 2026
State: Washington
Position: Support
Outcome: Stalled
Summary: This bill would have updated Washington’s Public Records Act to protect health care providers from harassment. Legal Voice helped draft this bill and led the effort to pass it.
Why This Bill is Needed
1. Extremists use the Public Records Act to harass health care providers.
Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA) was created to promote government transparency. But in the wrong hands, it can be used to expose private information and fuel harassment. Health care professionals who provide abortion care, gender-affirming care, and related services are particularly vulnerable to these kinds of attacks.
2. Providers have little recourse when targeted.
When providers need to block a PRA request, they only have two options: negotiate with the requester or take them to court. Neither approach is easy or effective. For example, in 2025 an anti-abortion writer almost revealed the personal addresses and phone numbers of Washington pharmacists who prescribed medication abortion. Though Legal Voice was able to negotiate with the writer and protect the providers, there is nothing to stop other extremists from targeting the providers in the future.
3. Washington providers face new threats from other states.
New threats have emerged because of the fall of Roe and a nationwide rise in anti-abortion and anti-trans legislation. Washingtonians who provide care for out-of-state patients may now face legal attacks from states where that care is criminalized. In the last year alone, Louisiana indicted an abortion provider in New York and a Texas man sued an abortion provider in California.
What This Bill Would Do
This bill would protect all health care providers by blocking disclosure of Collaborative Drug Therapy Agreements (CDTAs). Why the focus on CDTAs? Extremists can use them to find providers who perform a certain type of care, like vaccine provision, gender-affirming care, and abortion care.
To maintain transparency about misconduct by health care providers, this legislation would still allow disclosure of CDTAs that are the basis of disciplinary action by state medical boards.