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WA lawmakers renew push to make clergy report child abuse

Mandate would cover disclosures made in confessional

Two Democratic state lawmakers are trying again to require clergy members in Washington to report child abuse or neglect, including when it is disclosed to them by a congregant during confession.

Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, and Rep. Amy Walen, D-Kirkland, introduced legislation to add clergy to the stateā€™s roster of professions whose members must inform law enforcement if they believe a child has been harmed.

Frameā€™sĀ Senate Bill 5375Ā will get its first hearing Tuesday afternoon in the Senate Human Services Committee.

Third time the charm?

This is the third straight session that the issue will be debated. Past efforts failed when the two legislative chambers disagreed on whether to protect whatā€™s heard in confessions. Frame and Walen hope majorities in the House and Senate can agree this time.

ā€œItā€™s been far too long that weā€™ve failed to close this loophole and provide the protections children need from abuse,ā€Ā Frame said. ā€œI know this is a hard subject for many of my colleagues, especially those with deep religious views. I also know far too many children have been victims of abuse ā€” the Legislature has a duty to act. This is a proposal that can protect kids and get the votes to pass this year.ā€

Walen said she pre-filed her bill to get discussions rolling early in the House.

ā€œWeā€™ve had a lot of tough conversations,ā€ she said. ā€œIf you hear in confession that a child is in danger you have a duty to do something about it. I am trying to protect kids.ā€

Church opposition

TheĀ Washington State Catholic ConferenceĀ opposes the legislation. The conference is the ā€œpublic policy voiceā€ of the Catholic Bishops of the Archdiocese of Seattle, the Diocese of Spokane, and the Diocese of Yakima.

ā€œWe remain willing to have clergy as mandatory reporters but Catholic priests cannot reveal what is said in the confessional,ā€ Jean Welch Hill, the organizationā€™s executive director, wrote in an email. ā€œIf they comply with the bill as it is written, the priest will be automatically excommunicated. To demand that a priest choose between compliance with the law or the loss of his lifelong vocation is exactly what the First Amendment is supposed to protect against.ā€

Walen, who is not Catholic, said she thinks there is ā€œsome spaceā€ to save kids who are in imminent danger without defrocking Catholic priests.

Supporters of the legislation are better organized this year. Theyā€™ve formed the Clergy Accountability Coalition and enlisted a lobbyist to deliver their message to lawmakers.

ā€œOf course, the greatest obstacle will be the Catholic bishops of the state and their ability to raise fears framing this as an attack on freedom of religion and the seal of confession,ā€ Tim Law of theĀ Catholic Accountability ProjectĀ wrote in an email.

Familiar turf

Washington is one of a handful of states without a law making clergy mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect.

State lawĀ requires teachers, police, registered nurses, social service counselors and members of several other professions to report to law enforcement or the state Department of Children, Youth and Families if they have reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered abuse or neglect.

Senate Bill 5375Ā andĀ House Bill 1211Ā would add clergy to the list and remove their privilege to keep information shared in penitent communications confidential. They would retain the privilege to not be compelled to testify in a court case or criminal proceeding.

For three years, protection of what is said in the confessional has been the dividing line between the Senate and the House.

In 2023, the Senate unanimously passedĀ Frameā€™s billĀ that exempted clergy from disclosing information obtained in the confessional. But the HouseĀ removed the exemptionĀ in the version it approved on a strong bipartisan vote. Senators insisted on their position and the bill lapsed.

Last year, Frame crafted what she described as a ā€œdelicateā€ and ā€œvery narrowly defined compromiseā€ with the Washington State Catholic Conference. It preserved the clergy-penitent privilege. But, under the legislation, if a religious leader heard a child may be at imminent risk of harm in a confession and in another setting, when they were not carrying out their work as a religious leader, they had a responsibility to contact authorities.

TheĀ Senate passed the billĀ but it lapsed in a House committee.

This year’s attempt

This yearā€™s legislation does essentially what the House has sought the past two sessions ā€” making clergy mandatory reporters including what they hear in confessions.

ā€œMandating that priests violate their vows and lose their vocation will not result in better outcomes for children,ā€ Hill said. ā€œWhat would help is better training for all mandatory reporters so they recognize the signs of abuse and make the reports sooner.ā€

She pointed toĀ Senate Bill 5386Ā as a ā€œmore impactfulā€ approach without infringing on the constitutional rights of clergy and people of faith. The bill would ensure teachers and staff in public schools, who are mandatory reporters, receive training in ā€œtrauma-informed and survivor-centered responsesā€ to sexual abuse, misconduct, and assault.

Sen. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, wrote the legislation. It had not been scheduled for a hearing as of Friday last week.

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About the Author

Jerry Cornfield / Washington State Standard

Jerry Cornfield joined the Standard after 20 years covering Olympia statehouse news for The Everett Herald. Earlier in his career, he worked for daily and weekly papers in Santa Barbara, California. Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, the nationā€™s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.