The state of California takes another step toward ensuring abortion rights.
On Tuesday, Governor Newsom signed a package of a dozen abortion-related bills into law, in an effort to protect abortion rights in the state of California as a response to the U.S. Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade on June 24th.
In general, the 12 bills that the Governor signed yesterday were implemented to improve abortion access across the state. The state says that patients and clinicians would see an increase in protection with stronger privacy safeguards, and ensure providers and patients that they won't be sued or charged for advancing on procedures, nor for funding abortion operations and traveling fees for low-income patients.
One of those pieces of legislation signed into law Tuesday was SB-1142, a bill introduced by Representative Anna Caballero(jointly authored by State Senator Nancy Skinner), which inaugurates abortion.ca.gov, an official government website that provides access to any abortion-related tips and information in the state of California.
Governor Newsom said the state of California is fighting to essentially become a safe haven for individuals seeking access to abortion procedures.
“An alarming number of states continue to outlaw abortion and criminalize women, and it’s more important than ever to fight like hell for those who need these essential services,” Newsom said. “Our Legislature has been on the frontlines of this fight, and no other legislative body in the country is doing more to protect these fundamental rights — I’m proud to stand with them again and sign these critical bills into law.”
Before this packet of abortion-related bills were known to the public, Governor Newsom had shared the pieces of legislation to stakeholders, including Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California C.E.O., Jodi Hicks.
Hicks says that these collection of abortion protection bills ensures that California becomes a place of refuge for individuals seeking reproductive freedom.
“My entire generation has lived with Roe v. Wade being the law of the land, so it’s not like we had a map on how to navigate a system without those protections,” Hicks said. “It really took everyone coming together to design this collection of bills to become a reproductive freedom state and beacon of hope.”
