Stopping in San Diego on the final leg of his healthcare tour Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom touted California’s support for abortion rights and other reproductive health services as other states signed bans on the procedure into law this past week.

Newsom spoke to about 150 supporters at the United Food and Commercial Workers union office in Mission Valley with other speakers including his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, and abortion rights advocates from Planned Parenthood and other women’s health organizations. The governor’s appearance ended a week of speaking events Newsom has held throughout the state to promote his revised budget proposal and its initiatives to help families meet healthcare challenges.

Newsom’s budget proposal includes a historic $100 million allocation to fund Planned Parenthood and support other reproductive health providers and services. Newsom did not provide specific information on Saturday about how the money would be spent.

At the small rally, Newsom underscored what he described as California’s commitment to helping women access critical reproductive health services at a time when the rights and freedom of women and families are being threatened by new anti-abortion bills in states such as Alabama, Missouri and Georgia.

“This is about control, that’s what it’s about,” Newsom said of what he perceives as the true motivation behind the new bills to ban abortion. “It’s about control, it’s about patriarchy, it’s about going back to a time we don’t want to go back to, and we will fight and we will defend women’s rights. We will defend our families.”

Full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune.