Washington

Washington is one of the most prosperous and socially liberal states. Life expectancy and unemployment rates in the state are regularly among the highest in the country. Washington, along with Colorado, was among the first states to legalize medicinal and recreational cannabis, was one of the first states to legalize same-sex marriage in 2012, and was one of only four U.S. states to provide legal abortions on request before the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which liberalized abortion laws nationwide. Similarly, Washington voters supported a referendum authorizing physician-assisted suicide in 2008, and the state is now one of 10 states—along with Washington, D.C.—that have allowed the practice.