Legislation requiring clergy to report child abuse stalls again in Olympia

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

An attempt to require clergy to report child abuse or neglect met a quiet end Wednesday amid disagreement between the House and Senate on whether to exclude information shared in confession.

A Senate-passed bill, described as a “delicate compromise” by its author, exempted disclosures in confession while still requiring religious leaders to notify authorities when they have reason to believe a child is at imminent risk of harm, even if their belief is based in part on what they heard in confession, or other penitential communication.

But the House Human Services, Youth and Early Learning Committee didn’t advance Senate Bill 6298 ahead of Wednesday’s deadline for action on non-budget policy legislation from the opposite chamber.

Members of both parties on the panel did not want to protect what is said in confession.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/02/21/legislation-requiring-clergy-to-report-child-abuse-stalls-again-in-olympia/

[OldBaldy1701E]

1. Still terrified of offending the religious in this country.

Of course, the pious are not offended about such a thing on their own, but once the clergy starts preaching about how horrible it is that they have to tell the police every thing every single parishioner says in confession when they are just being made to report on the abuses they are privy to... well, that's when the general whining starts.

(Oh wait... priests hear each other's confessions... which would mean they would have to report.... AHHHHH...)