The Freedom From Religion Foundation is deeply disappointed by Washington state’s decision to exempt clergy from reporting child abuse or neglect learned during religious confession.
The FFRF Action Fund, FFRF’s lobbying arm, was instrumental in advocating for the passage of SB 5375, which was approved with bipartisan support and signed into law on May 2. The law closed a longstanding and dangerous loophole that allowed clergy to withhold information about child abuse disclosed in confessional or pastoral settings. A recent modification to the law undermines vital protections for children in favor of religious privilege.
The genesis for the law actually came from a case involving the cover-up of child abuse by an elder in a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Seattle. Shortly after it was passed, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the law, claiming it “demands that Catholic priests violate their deeply held faith.” The bill was signed into law by Gov. Bob Ferguson — himself a practicing Catholic — who responded directly: “We look forward to protecting Washington kids from sexual abuse in the face of this ‘investigation’ from the Trump administration.”
Late last week, the state reached a settlement ending its defense of the law. Clergy in Washington remain mandatory reporters under stipulations filed by the state attorney general and the plaintiffs. However, under the settlement, state and county prosecutors have agreed not to enforce reporting requirements for information learned solely through confession or its equivalent in other faiths. The stipulation now awaits court approval.
“This is an alarming step backward for child safety, and yet another instance where religious privileging is put ahead of human rights,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Children’s welfare must always come before protecting abusers and their ‘secrets.’ No religious ritual should serve as a shield for those who criminally harm children.”
FFRF is crestfallen that when Washington state had the opportunity to close an egregious gap in mandatory reporting laws, it caved and continues a privilege that has too often allowed abuse to flourish in the dark. Holding clergy accountable is not anti-Christian; it is pro-child, pro-justice and pro-human rights.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters nationwide, including more than 1,800 members and a chapter in Washington. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
