SACRAMENTO—California’s Democratic lawmakers announced this week their intent to expand abortion access across the state by classifying it as a “fundamental right” through an amendment in the state constitution.
According to the bill text, the amendment would “prohibit the state from denying or interfering with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) introduced the amendment—Senate Constitutional Amendment 10—in collaboration with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the National Abortion Rights Action League California on June 8, just one day after the primaries.
“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. This constitutional amendment is the additional armor we need for that battle,” Atkins said in a statement.
