Pro-Life Attorney Warns of California’s ‘Abortion Apocalypse’ in Wave of New Legislation

Concerned that 'reproductive freedom' will override protection of children

Pro-life demonstrators gather at the California state capital building in Sacramento on April 19, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

According to Susan Swift Arnall, vice president of legal affairs for Right to Life League, an avalanche of new legislation in California will put into motion what she calls an “abortion apocalypse” that will be fully funded by the taxpayers.

New California Abortion Laws

The bills listed below were signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 27, 2022:

• AB 1375: Reduces doctor oversight and standardized procedures for abortions.
• AB 657: Fast-tracks abortion licenses for health care officials coming to California to provide abortions.
• SB 1245: Funds abortion access in Los Angeles County.
• AB 2626: Prohibits specified medical licensing boards from suspending or revoking a license from a provider for performing an abortion if the abortion was in accordance with the Medical Practice Act and the Reproductive Privacy Act.
• AB 1918: Establishes the California Reproductive Health Service Corps, which will provide education and training to newly recruited abortion and reproductive health care workers in exchange for a three-year commitment by the trainees to work for the state to provide abortions and other reproductive services in “underserved areas.”
• AB 2586: Awards funding grants to community organizations for comprehensive reproductive and sexual education, including information about abortion access.
• AB 2091: Prohibits health care providers from sharing medical information regarding an out-of-state individual, even minors without the knowledge or consent of their parents, seeking an abortion in California.
• AB 2134: Establishes the California Reproductive Health Equity Program, which provides grants to providers to cover the cost of abortion procedures and contraception for low-income clients.
• SB 523: Expands birth control access regardless of insurance status by requiring health plans to cover certain over-the-counter birth control without cost sharing. It also prohibits employment discrimination based on reproductive health decisions by making “reproductive health decision making” a new civil rights category.
• AB 2223: Blocks investigation of fetal death and shields anyone who aids in the death of a baby.
• AB 1242: Prohibits California law enforcement and corporations from “cooperating with out-of-state entities regarding a lawful abortion in California” and prohibits law enforcement from arresting anyone having a lawful abortion in California.
• SB 1142: Requires the establishment of an abortion care services website and an evaluation of the Abortion Practical Support Fund, which provides funding for travel, lodging, lost wages, and even child care for anyone who travels to California for an abortion.

Legislation Signed Into Law by Newsom:

• AB 1666 and AB 1242: Forbid California from complying with other states’ valid court decisions, subpoenas, and orders that concern abortion.

Legislation Awaiting Newsom’s Signature:

• AB 2091: Prohibits a person from being compelled to provide testimony about another person who sought or obtained an abortion.
• AB 2320: Subsidizes a pilot program to increase abortion access in rural counties.
• AB 1940: Enables school-based health centers to provide “reproductive health services” to students.
• SB 1131: Provides legal confidentiality protection to workers involved in abortion and other reproductive services.
• SB 1400: Increases the minimum damages reward to $25,000 in civil suits brought by abortion workers whose names, addresses, or other personal information are posted online for the purpose of inciting harassment.

Then there’s Proposition 1, which would define “reproductive freedom” as a constitutional right. Because it would require an amendment to the state’s constitution, California’s voters, not the Legislature, will decide the fate of this measure on Nov. 8, 2022.

‘Reproductive Freedom’ Undefined

“The concern that the Right to Life League has about Prop 1 centers on the undefined, extremely broad term, ’reproductive freedom,‘” Arnall told The Epoch Times. “These are powerful legal words. When you say ’the state shall,’ or ’the state shall not,‘ that’s on the same level as the Ten Commandments; ’Thou shalt not commit murder.‘ When the state says ’it shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom,‘ I really don’t know what that means because ’reproductive freedom’ is not defined.”