From National Catholic Register:
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Friday signed a controversial state law that requires priests to report child abuse to authorities even if they learn of it during the sacrament of confession.
The measure, introduced in the state legislature earlier this year, adds clergy to the list of mandatory abuse reporters in the state, but doesn’t include an exemption for information learned in the confessional. A 2023 version of the proposal had offered an exemption for abuse allegations learned “solely as a result of a confession.” The latest bill does not contain such a carve-out, and in fact explicitly notes that clergy do not qualify for a “privileged communication” exemption.