It is a very turbulent time to have a uterus and live in the United States.
With reproductive rights that were guaranteed for almost 50 years having been overturned and states making laws criminalizing pregnancy loss, it is a perilous time to be a pregnant woman in most of the United States. However, California has recently passed several bills protecting reproductive rights and the right to an abortion.
For example, AB 2223 is a bill that prevents people from being prosecuted for pregnancy loss, whether from abortion, miscarriage, or other circumstances in the state of California. This works in tangent with bill AB 1242, which bars law enforcement and corporations in California from assisting out-of-state organizations in prosecuting people who received a lawful abortion in California. These bills protect people from criminal prosecution, making it safer for someone to get, or perform, an abortion.
In addition, AB 2091, SB 523, and SB 1375 are three more bills that work together to protect reproductive rights. Bill AB 2091 ensures that medical records stay private, by banning healthcare providers from giving medical records to out-of-state organizations, even with a subpoena.
Bill SB 523 makes it easier for people to get over-the-counter birth control, and makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of reproductive health decisions.
Bill SB 1375 provides more training options for licensed nurses to learn how to perform a suction abortion. These bills give people more privacy with their health and make it easier to access reproductive health services.
Eight other bills were signed as well, all of which will help make access to reproductive health services in California safer and more accessible. California also added the right to abortion to the state’s constitution this year, making sure it will stay legal in California.
All of these bills being passed is a large step in ensuring reproductive freedom in California, regardless of what laws other states may enact criminalizing reproductive health care.
California has always been a leader in reproductive rights, having legalized abortion in 1969, four years before Roe v. Wade.
While Roe v. Wade has been overturned, the right to abortion will not be lost by Californians anytime soon.
More information on all of these bills can be found at: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/09/27/new-protections-for-people-who-need-abortion-care-and-birth-control/
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