Through a diverse coalition of stakeholders, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest has worked over the past year to identify barriers to abortion access. As a result of our collective efforts, the California Legislature passed a historic bill package (including $200 million in new state funding and a constitutional amendment now on the ballot as Proposition 1) that Governor Newsom signed into law September 2022. This is the largest bill package in the country to not only protect access to abortion care but expand access, for all who may need or seek care in California.
See below for details on these historic wins:
In September 2021, the Governor of California called upon legislative leaders and reproductive health care organizations and advocates to form the Future of Abortion Council (FAB). The FAB Council through a collective workgroup and research process released a report with over 40 recommendations for policy makers to act on to improve and protect abortion access in California. This report of recommendations led to 16 pro-abortion bills being introduced in the 2022 legislative session and led to the State Budget including over $200 million for sexual and reproductive health care. Learn more at cafabcouncil.org.
FAB Budget Success
The $200+ million in historic budget investments to expand access to abortion and sexual and reproductive health care include:
• $40 Million for the uncompensated care grant program through the CARE Act.
• $15 Million for equity and infrastructure payments for clinic abortion providers in Medi-Cal.
• $20 Million for reproductive health care services scholarships/loan repayments
• $20 Million for reproductive health center physical and digital Infrastructure and security.
• $20 Million for recruitment and retention resources to ensure clinicians and other health workers have access to abortion training.
• $20 Million for the California Abortion Support Fund
• $20 Million for Los Angeles County reproductive health pilot program.
• $20 Million for premium subsidy payments for abortion coverage.
• $15 Million for the reproductive justice and freedom fund.
• $10 Million for backfilling lost Title X Family Planning Funds.
• $8 Million for family planning, access, care and treatment, and HPV vaccine coverage.
• $4 Million for a state-run reproductive rights website and research on unmet reproductive health care needs.
FAB Sponsored and Supported Legislation
AB 657 (Cooper): Expedited Licensure for Abortion Providers – Requires the Medical Board, the Osteopathic Medical Board, the Board of Registered Nursing, and the Physician Assistant Board to expedite the licensure process of an applicant who can demonstrate that they intend to provide abortions in California.
AB 1242 (Bauer- Kahan): Reproductive Rights – Prohibits a peace officer from arresting a person for performing or aiding in the performance of a lawful abortion or for obtaining an abortion and prohibits law enforcement agencies from cooperating with or providing information to an individual or agency from another state regarding a lawful abortion. Prohibits specified corporations from providing information to out-of-state entities regarding an abortion.
AB 1666 (Bauer-Kahan) Civil Liability – Protects patients and providers from civil liability judgments for providing reproductive health care to patients when the claims are based on laws in other states that are hostile to abortion rights and are contrary to the public policy of California.
AB 1918 (Petrie-Norris): California Reproductive Health Service Corps – Establishes a Reproductive Scholarship Corps to improve the education pipeline for providers and create a more robust and diverse workforce.
AB 2091 (Bonta): Medical Privacy – Enhances privacy protections for medical records related to abortion care under California’s Reproductive Privacy Act against disclosures to law enforcement and out-of-state third parties seeking to enforce hostile abortion bans in other states.
AB 2134 (Weber): California Abortion and Reproductive Equity Act (CARE Act) – Establishes the California Reproductive Health Equity Program which will provide grants to providers who provided uncompensated abortion and contraceptive care to patients with low-incomes.
AB 2205 (Carrillo): Abortion Premium Transparency – Requires qualified health plans under Covered California to report annually to the Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care the total amounts of funds collected in the segregated abortion accounts to create greater transparency.
AB 2223 (Wicks): Decriminalization of Abortion & Pregnancy Loss – Creates clear and consistent guidance regarding existing protections under the Reproductive Privacy Act to protect people from prosecutions and criminalization of abortion or pregnancy loss.
AB 2320 (C. Garcia): Reproductive Health Care Pilot Program – Establishes a pilot program to direct funds to community health clinics that provide reproductive health care services in 5 counties to address health disparities.
AB 2529 (Davies and Calderon): Certified Nurse Midwives – Adds certified nurse-midwives to existing provisions establishing a state medical contract program with accredited medical schools and hospitals.
AB 2586 (C. Garcia): Reproductive Justice and Freedom Fund – Creates a grant program to fund community-based organizations who provide and promote medically accurate, comprehensive reproductive health information and sexual health education.
AB 2626 (Calderon): Abortion Provider Protections – Protects abortion providers by preventing the Medical Board of CA from revoking or suspending a medical license for a licensee providing abortion care in CA and in other states.
SB 1142 (Caballero and Skinner): Access + Support for Abortion Patients – Creates a website with comprehensive and accurate information regarding accessing abortion services in California.
SB 1245 (Kamlager): Los Angeles County Reproductive Pilot Program – Establishes a reproductive health pilot project in LA County to support innovative approaches and patient centered collaborations for abortion.
SB 1375 (Atkins): Nurse Practitioners and Access to Reproductive Care – Allows Nurse Practitioners who meet specified criteria to practice independently, without physician supervision, including first-trimester abortion care.
SCA 10 (Atkins): Reproductive Freedom Constitutional Amendment – Safeguards reproductive freedom in California, is now Proposition 1 on the November Ballot.
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