Overview

• Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed SB 5375 into law, mandating clergy report child abuse without exemptions for confessions, effective July 27, 2025.
• The Archdiocese of Seattle has pledged to excommunicate priests who comply with the law, citing the inviolability of the confessional seal under canon law.
• The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation, questioning the law's alignment with First Amendment protections for religious freedom.
• Catholic leaders, including Archbishop Paul Etienne, assert they will not comply with the law, framing it as an unconstitutional intrusion into religious practice.
• The law's passage reflects broader tensions between child protection efforts and safeguarding religious confidentiality, as Washington joins a small group of states without confession exemptions.