ICYMI: Constitutional Amendment Legislation Sails Through First Two California Senate Hearings

June 14, 2022
Brandon Richards, Director of Communications
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MORE: AB 1666, AB 2091, and AB 2223 Passed CA Senate Judiciary Committee

In case you missed it, Senate Constitutional Amendment 10 (SCA 10), introduced by Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, was heard today for the first time by the California state Senate. With overwhelming support, SCA 10 first passed out of the California Senate Judiciary Committee on a vote of 9 – 1, then shortly after passed out of the California Senate Elections and Amendments Committee on a vote of 3 – 1. Below are excerpts from today’s testimony. Watch the full testimony from Senate Judiciary Committee here and Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee here.

 

Toni Atkins, California Senate President Pro Tempore

“In California, we cannot standby as women and families are left vulnerable as our highest court moves to strip away our rights and put countless people in harm’s way. Alongside Speaker Rendon and so many of our colleagues, we have introduced SCA 10 to ensure that the fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and to use contraception is protected in California now, and for generations to come. Abortion is health care, plain and simple, and like many important medical decisions, it is a discussion between the patient and their health care provider. No judge, no politician should be in that room, or making this decision.”

 

Jodi Hicks, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California

“This effort, in addition to the legislative package brought forward by the Legislative Women’s Caucus, is essential to showing California is meeting this moment. That California recognizes, no matter what the Supreme Court decides, health care, including abortion, is a right. Abortion is a personal decision and people should be able to make their own medical decisions with their health care providers…This constitutional amendment sends a clear signal across the country that not only is abortion care legal and available in California, but that we as a state care about you and will fight for you…It is crucial people feel safe when accessing the essential health care they want and need – throughout their pregnancy and beyond. This effort provides that much needed reassurance in this time of uncertainty.”

 

Dr. Pratima Gupta, OBGYN with Planned Parenthood Pacific Southwest and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology

“Access to care should NOT depend on your zip code. Questions about whether and when to access abortion care should be removed from the political context and returned to the patient and health care professionals like me…Our patients need us as their trusted medical information guides more than ever now…People should be able to access the health care they need without medically unnecessary barriers or restrictions, and health care providers, like myself, should be able to offer that care without interference or fear of being criminalized or otherwise punished. It is critical that California act now to protect the sacred patient-clinician relationship in the provision of abortion care and to ensure that no person in California is ever denied the ability to make decisions with their health care provider about whether and when to seek and obtain essential health care. This constitutional amendment sends a clear signal to patients that abortion care is legal and available in California and provides much needed reassurance at this critical time to patients and providers alike.”

 

Cary Franklin, University of California Los Angeles School of Law Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy Professor, McDonald/Wright Chair of Law, and UCLA School of Law and Faculty Director, The Williams Institute

“The leaked opinion suggests the erosion of rights may not stop here. Many of the hard-fought rights that fall under the right to privacy—including rights related to the use of contraceptives, sexual intimacy, and marriage equality—are also at risk. While California currently has robust statutory protections for abortion, State Constitutional Amendment 10 will safeguard the right to choose an abortion or use contraceptives regardless of who is in power in the future. It will enshrine these rights in the California Constitution explicitly—it will enumerate them by name for the first time—ensuring that these rights are constitutionally protected under California law for generations to come.  SCA 10 also underscores how state constitutional rights to privacy and equal protection are tied to a person’s reproductive freedom. In so doing, it—along with other legislative efforts by this body—will help to ensure that people have the basic freedom to access reproductive healthcare, and the liberty and equality to make their own decisions about if and when to grow their families.”

 

In addition to SCA 10 moving through the California state Senate, three additional bills supported by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the California Future of Abortion Council successfully passed out of California Senate Judiciary Committee today.

 

• AB 1666 (Bauer-Kahan) -- Protects patients and providers in California 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 2091 (Bonta) – Enhances privacy protections for medical records related to abortion care against disclosures to law enforcement and out-of-state third parties seeking to enforce hostile abortion bans in other states.
• AB 2223 (Wicks) – Ensures that no one in California will be investigated, prosecuted, or incarcerated for ending a pregnancy or experiencing pregnancy loss.

Read more about Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California’s sponsored legislation here, and California Future of Abortion Council supported legislation here.

 

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Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) is the state public policy office representing California’s seven separately incorporated Planned Parenthood affiliates. Through advocacy and electoral action, PPAC promotes sound public policy in areas of sexual and reproductive health care and sex education.