State Supreme Court Candidate Sean O’Donnell Says he Supports Reproductive Rights, Local Advocates Aren’t Convinced

Abortion rights win elections. With days left until the November 3 general election, that could be a late-breaking problem for Washington State Supreme Court candidate Sean O’Donnell, who is running in an increasingly contentious race against Washington State Court of Appeals Judge Ian Birk. O’Donnell, who has been endorsed by several Democratic legislative districts, but also the Washington State Republican Party and has received financial backing from conservative PACs, told The Stranger he respects laws supporting abortion rights. But he never filled out an endorsement questionnaire from either Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates or Northwest Reproductive Equity Action, the state’s leading reproductive rights advocacy groups, whose approval indicates candidates’ support for the issue. Both groups have endorsed Birk. (So has The Stranger Election Control Board.)

Now, O’Donnell’s camp is contending that their candidate does support reproductive rights, but simply didn’t follow through on the endorsement process. “Sean fully supports reproductive healthcare,” says the judge’s political consultant, Stephen Paolini. O’Donnell himself says the same thing. But according to Paolini, the campaign received a Planned Parenthood endorsement questionnaire in April that asked how O’Donnell would rule on specific issues, so the campaign didn’t respond. In Washington, judicial positions are nonpartisan, and candidates must be careful about being too political lest it show bias. Paolini also said that he had tried to contact Northwest Reproductive Equity Action’s lobbyist, but that the organization hadn’t reached out to the campaign directly.

Both groups dispute this account. According to Courtney Normand, the Washington State director at Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, the organization’s endorsement questionnaire for judicial candidates is crafted to be “mindful of the judicial code of ethics and conduct” and, as such, specifically does not ask how candidates would rule on certain issues. She said other judicial candidates had filled it out without issue. “The chief justice of the Supreme Court returned our questionnaire, no problem,” she says, referring to Debra Stephens, who is running for re-election.

While it’s possible O’Donnell’s camp simply made a mistake, says Normand, “I can tell you, the judges that we endorsed, we had a lot of engagement from. We didn’t have to chase them down to participate in our process.”

That process is generally familiar to political candidates in Washington, especially those looking to publicly affirm their support for reproductive rights. It’s unusual for pro-choice candidates to opt out.

When you’re running for office in Washington, it’s common knowledge that Planned Parenthood and Northwest Reproductive Equity Action are key organizations from which to seek an endorsement, said Sen. June Robinson, a member of the Washington State Senate’s Health & Long-Term Care Committee. “Those are the two organizations that, as a candidate, everybody knows that they’re a benchmark for those issues,” she says, adding that in a state like Washington, where there is a long history of affirming reproductive rights, “It’s very strange to hide on that issue.”

According to political manager Paul Dillon, Northwest Reproductive Equity Action’s candidate questionnaire is publicly available online, and could have been accessed by O’Donnell’s campaign at any time. “They could have gone online and submitted it,” says Dillon. “They did not. And so that’s on them.”

Dillon said that O’Donnell’s opponent Birk reached out to the organization ahead of the endorsement process, and even traveled to Spokane to meet with Dillon personally. “That showed a lot of intention on his part and how much he does deeply care about the issues of choice and access to abortion, and that spoke volumes to me,” says Dillon.

Birk confirmed his meeting with Dillon and early interest in Northwest Reproductive Equity Action’s endorsement process. He said he didn’t recall anything unusual about the candidate questionnaires, or the expectation that candidates take the initiative to seek out endorsements, which are especially important in these non-partisan judicial races since they are one of the few avenues to connect with voters.

“There’s certainly nothing that would prevent a candidate from participating in this process,” he says, adding that O’Donnell’s lack of engagement came as a surprise. “I think that the focus on healthcare access, healthcare equity, and healthcare affordability is just very important in society.” In his previous career as a personal injury attorney, Birk often advocated for clients seeking insurance coverage or disability benefits, or otherwise navigating major barriers to all kinds of health care. “This issue does come before the court,” he says.

Paolini said the opposite was true of abortion, specifically: that access is “incredibly settled law” in Washington. “There is zero threat here,” he says. “Sean supports reproductive healthcare.”

For Normand, that was a red flag, given national attacks on abortion rights and efforts to limit access even in states with protective policies. “Anyone who is on the bench in Washington state knows that attacks are being lobbed at us all the time,” she says. “And as one of the nation’s leading reproductive rights states, we’re a target for anything the other side can come up with to bring to court. So not only do I think that’s wrong, I think it’s alarming that they’re not taking it more seriously.”