California leans in as abortion refuge
California Democrats have accelerated their plan to make the nation's most populous state a sanctuary for women seeking abortions, propelled by the release this week of an early draft of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has ignited a surge of activism among the state's vast network of providers and advocacy groups.
The draft — which could change when a final ruling is issued, likely next month — would end nearly 50 years of federal abortion protections. Just hours after a leaked copy was published, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state's top legislative leaders said they would seek voter approval to make abortions a constitutional right in California, a move designed to shield the state from future court rulings and a potential federal abortion ban should Republicans win control of Congress.
On Thursday, Democrats in the state Legislature fast-tracked a bill that would block other states' laws from imposing civil or criminal penalties on people who provide or aid abortions in California, setting up another likely prolonged legal fight over state sovereignty.
The California Legislative Women's Caucus has asked Newsom for $20 million to help pay for women from other states where abortion would be outlawed to come to California for the procedure — a sum the governor could announce in his revised budget proposal next week.
In just 48 hours after the draft ruling became public, California's only statewide nonprofit that helps women travel to and within the state to get abortions raised $25,000 — a quarter of its normal annual spending — while fielding a flood of calls from people volunteering to give free rides or a place to stay to women looking to end their pregnancies.
For Madilynne Hoffman, California's preparations are comforting. The 22-year-old mother of two ended her pregnancy in December at an abortion clinic in the state's Central Valley.
When she returned to a different clinic later for birth control, she said a protester followed her to her car. That experience, coupled with the draft court ruling, prompted her to look for volunteer opportunities at clinics.
“That's really saddening to think that women have to fight for their bodies,” she said. “It should just be an automatic right.”
California's legislative efforts represent the opening salvos in the next phase of the abortion rights battle, which will play out among state governments that are left to make and enforce their own rules if the federal protections are abolished. Already, Republicanled states like Oklahoma and Idaho have passed more restrictive abortion laws in anticipation of the court's ruling.
Democratic-led states like California, meanwhile, are passing laws to expand abortion access.
The Democrats who control all levers of power in state government have written 13 bills that would authorize more medical providers to perform abortions, create scholarships for reproductive care doctors, block other states from accessing some California medical records, and create a fund for taxpayer money to help pay for women in states where abortion is illegal to come to California to get the procedure. A measure that makes abortions cheaper by banning co-pays and deductibles has already been signed into law.