California could become the first state to explicitly enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution if a Senate bill introduced Wednesday clears the Legislature before the end of the month.
Senate Constitutional Amendment 10 would place a constitutional amendment on the November 2022 ballot asking voters to protect the right to an abortion and contraceptives.
It follows up on the promise made by legislative leaders after Politico obtained and published a U.S. Supreme Court majority draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision protecting the right to abortion.
“It is our duty as legislators to fight for the people of California and their right to make decisions about their own bodies and access critical health care,” Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said in a statement Wednesday, the morning after the state’s primary elections. “This constitutional amendment is the additional armor we need for that battle.”
California is one of a number of Democratic-led states grappling with how to protect abortion rights in the face of a ruling expected anytime in the few weeks by the high court that would strike down Roe and turn the decisions over abortion rights to the states. In New York, an end-of-session effort to secure abortion rights in the state’s constitution fell short, but efforts in other states, including Vermont and Michigan, are moving forward.
While Vermont was the first state to put a constitutional protection for abortion rights on the ballot, its Proposition 5 does not use the word “abortion.” It instead promises to ensure that every resident “is afforded personal reproductive liberty” and the ability to exercise “personal autonomy,” which has raised concerns about how that could be interpreted.
California’s bill, introduced by the leaders of both houses — Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) — is more explicit. It would change the California Constitution to say “every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions and prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a person’s right to choose or obtain an abortion before viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person.” California’s right to privacy in the state constitution has been interpreted to include abortion, but lawmakers wanted to spell it out.
Democrats hold a supermajority in California’s legislature and could pass the bill without Republican votes. But they are under a tight timeline, as June 30 is the deadline for placing measures on the November ballot.
The measure is supported by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and co-sponsored by the National Abortion Rights Action League California. It will be heard in policy committees next week.
The constitutional amendment bill will move through the Legislature along with roughly a dozen legislative proposals aimed at expanding and protecting reproductive rights for Californians and others who may need to travel to the state for services. One bill, which will eliminate out-of-pocket costs for abortion in private insurance coverage starting next year, has already been signed into law.
Newsom, who supports the constitutional amendment, has proposed spending more than $125 million in state funds in the coming year for a range of reproductive health purposes. Legislative leaders, who are negotiating with the governor over the budget, have backed those proposals and suggested some additional provisions.
The above comes from a June 8 story in Politico.
Don’t worry. Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s home was visited by a mostly peaceful assassin who had a gun and had declared his intent to kill Kavanaugh. But it was mostly peaceful. So move along, nothing to see here.
The left doesn’t care about violence against conservatives.
The left is despicable.
The left did not show up at Kavanaughs house with a gun. It was a despicable act by one man, not “the left”. Contrast that with January 6 in which thousands of protesters came to the US Capitol, many with guns, and watched while a few dozen stormed and desecrated the building, put up a noose with the sign “Hang Mike Pence”. Initially Republicans were and incensed as anyone over these lawless anti-American acts, but allowed themselves to be silenced by the perpetrator himself. You can watch it all for yourself starting tonight in all the networks. Oh all the networks EXCEPT Fox News, a tool of the Republican right.
The so-called insurrectionist arrived without guns; the only person who was shot was an unarmed woman. And yes that was the left showing up at Kavanaugh’s house; they are still protesting outside his house which is a violation of law but you and Left do not care about law you care about power.
There is a federal law that prohibits demonstrating outside the homes of judges. Democrats in power are not enforcing it because they want to intimidate the conservative Supreme Court justices. I’d say Biden is despicable, but he’s so far gone mentally that he doesn’t know what day it is, much less is he running the executive branch of government.
So that voters can make an informed decision on abortion, is it fair to ask if they know what abortion (really) is?
Maybe the official voter booklet could contain a link to information on that, so they could make an informed decision. Viewing the link below might help them answer the legitimate question, “What is an abortion?”
https://www.abortionprocedures.com/?__hstc=61024563.490998c5248b782c3aa2f2f2d1589b3c.1652248539301.1654548749753.1654807113179.3&__hssc=61024563.1.1654807113179&__hsfp=1846070477
They’re proposing “every individual possesses a fundamental… right to choose or obtain an abortion before viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the person.” When health and life have been defined so broadly, as they have, as to include financial health, social life, mental health, etc., then virtual abortion on demand at any time for any reason would be the law in our state. If people realized what abortion really is, most would be horrified. (Ask Abby Johnson and others.) With abortion of babies up until birth, does anyone wonder why my former political party is often described as the Party of Death?
Baby Murder– thumbs up, or thumbs down– certainly does not belong on any voters’ ballots. A human life is precious and sacred. The right to life for all unborn children, should be enshrined in law.
Let’s be inclusive.
Change the constitution to
say NOBODY in Cali has the
right to life. Every Man (woman & “it”)
for himself! Let’s ALL get to feel like a
child in the womb/warzone.
When you realize nobody cares about you except maybe your family and friends. Then you’ll realize nobody cares. There won’t be a law because nobody cares.
I think this is pretty much right. Our country has no cohesion. People don’t care about anyone except themselves. We’ve become atoms that inhabit the same geographical area but don’t unite to form anything cohesive.
I blame lots of things, but the internet and social media are the biggest. We were a much better country before the internet and before twitter and tictoc.
I believe that, in California, public employees are still required to make an Oath of Allegiance to defend and protect not only the U.S. Constitution, but also that of the State of California. If abortion is enshrined in the State Constitution, how could good Catholics, in good conscience, ever be public employees of any sort?
Wow! That’s a good question. I’m a retired Fire Dept. arson investigator. I was sworn so many years ago that I can’t remember the exact wording. Of course, arson (and other) attacks against both life-affirming and life-denying clinics are indefensible. I would investigate any arsons with equal dedication, as would others working for police departments. I’m relieved to now be retired and not face some of the issues my brothers and sisters in the Fire service and law enforcement now have to face. My family first came to the Bay Area shortly after the Civil War. My “home” is now too frequently unrecognizable. Pray for our once-great state, especially its leaders and those who elect them.