SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It’s been nearly nine months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade. Since then, voters approved Proposition 1 to enshrine the right to abortion in California, the legislature passed a package of more than a dozen bills, and the governor allocated $200 million in the last budget to increase abortion access.
On Monday, the Legislative Women’s Caucus unveiled a package of bills aimed at increasing abortion access in California.
Lawmakers said privacy is the theme in this latest package of abortion-related bills. One bill would keep all the information women share on apps, like the ones that track someone’s period or fertility, private. Another would prevent law enforcement from looking at a person’s search history, a process the author Assemblymember Mia Bonta said is called reverse demand.
“They can compel companies in California to search their records and reveal the identities of all people who are looking at a particular keyword search like medical abortion, or health care, or IVF, or anything related quite frankly, to our reproductive care and where we drive down the street in front of a prenatal clinic,” said Bonta.
Another bill, by state Senator Nancy Skinner, would protect abortion providers if they provide medical care to California residents, like sending them a pill while they are out of state for whatever reason.
Even though it’s mailing across state lines, she says it’s legal.
“That is not uncommon now," she said.
Jonathan Keller is the founder of the California Family Council, a pro-life organization.
“California is really playing with fire here," said Keller. "They are so eager to export their ideology when it comes to abortion to the rest of the country. They're trying to set up a legal fiction of saying that the laws in other states do not apply to people here in the state of California.”
His biggest issue though is with the bill that would create a public education campaign against pregnancy crisis centers, which Democrats say are deceptive in making people believe they provide abortion care.
“They really are attacking one of the best features of the California social safety net, which is nonprofit organizations, led by people of faith, that are seeking to provide free resources and support to families in need,” said Keller.
Some of the other bills would ensure that medical malpractice insurance includes abortion care. Another would allow out-of-state medical school graduates- like residents- to come and practice in California for up to 90 days.
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