The powerful pro-abortion lobby continued to exhibit its clout, as the California Legislature approved a bill that would empower physician assistants to perform aspiration abortions and greenlit legislation to expand Medicaid coverage of the abortion pill to 13 weeks.
The legislation was yet another blow, after a state constitutional amendment enshrining abortion was enacted by voters in 2022.
On the pro-life side, an effort to force pregnancy centers out of business by allowing them to be sued for false advertising failed to pass. The California Catholic Conference and other pro-life organizations and supporters lobbied against the bills, noting they supported transparent advertising but said this was a thinly veiled attempt to shut down pregnancy centers. One of the two bill’s background information called pregnancy centers ‘fake clinics.’
“While we expected several abortion expansion bills to pass, the Conference was excited to see some of the bills held back, and while we still didn’t support others, we made progress in diluting their harms,” said Molly Sheahan, associate director for healthy families, California Catholic Conference.
Several bills passed that would support low-income pregnant moms and families with young children. They include expanded health care coverage during and after pregnancy for moms and entering into the state code—and thus making funding more secure–several programs begun administratively that help poor and at-risk moms and families.
The 2022-23 legislative session concluded Sept. 14. Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Oct. 14 to sign or veto bills. It takes a two-thirds vote for the legislature to override any vetoes.
I’m not surprised the California Catholic Conference spins almost total failure as something to be excited about.
Healthy Families means no more abortions. Pray for California.
Nobody wants their surgeon to be a non doctor! How many perforated uteruses will it take to realize this? Abortion is never safe for the baby, and clearly abortion fanatics don’t care about the mother either.
Democrats are incompetent at governance.
If crisis pregnancy centers are presenting themselves falsely, claiming to offer services they do not, or misleading women about services they offer, they should be sued for false advertising; I don’t see what prevents that from being done now or why a special law permitting it is needed. The Catholic conference’s admission, “noting they supported transparent advertising,” is an acknowledgment that some clinics are using deceptive advertising methods.
Hah! And PP provides health care? What a joke! Their ‘breast cancer screening” is teaching self breast exams and handing out ‘how to’ shower cards. You can get a prescription, as long as it’s for an std. High blood pressure? Diabetes? Gotta go to a real medical facility. Health care what a joke…and people say Crisis Pregnancy Centers falsely advertise….and they say it with a straight face…what a joke.
Crisis pregnancy centers skirt the law by offering services for free (so no regulation of commercial transactions) and not offering medical services (so no requirement to be licensed nor to adhere to laws regulating professionally licensed services).
Crisis pregnancy centers pose implicitly as medical facilities without being medical facilities. That could be considered deception #1. Women who don’t know any better and are seeking medical assistance with an unplanned pregnancy could go there thinking they will receive medical treatment or professional medical advice. The deception draws women in for the sales pitch.
The centers probably can’t be sued under current law since what they are doing constitutes free speech. If you aren’t selling anything, and if you aren’t practicing medicine, there’s no basis for suing you if your operation is just trying to dissuade women from having an abortion.