AGO Opinion Topics: CONSENT HUSBAND

(1) The requirement of RCW 9.02.070 that an abortion, in order to be noncriminal, be performed upon a married woman only with the consent of her husband, remains presumptively constitutional in the absence of a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court or the Washington supreme court to the contrary. (2) RCW 9.02.080, which permits a hospital to refuse to allow its facilities to be used in the performance of an abortion, remains presumptively constitutional even as to public hospitals in the absence of a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court or the Washington supreme court to the contrary. (3) A hospital may require that prior to an abortion where the fetus is believed to be in excess of 20 weeks, that an attending physician consult with another physician to determine that the pregnancy has not gone beyond the 28th week or second trimester.