Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom signed a slew of abortion-related bills on Tuesday, attempting to set his state further apart from areas that have taken action to protect the lives of the unborn.
“With today’s abortion expansion, Gavin Newsom continues his shadow campaign for president. By signing these 13 bills from the Future of Abortion Council, Newsom hopes to secure his spot in the White House at the expense of women and their unborn children,” California Family Council President Jonathan Keller said in an emailed press release to The Daily Wire.
“Governor Newsom tells pregnant women California has their back, but only if they choose to end their pregnancies. This package provides NO care for women who choose to keep their children. Gavin’s not pro-choice; he’s no choice,” he added.
Some of the bills are part of Newsom’s determination to make the Golden State a sanctuary state for abortion so that women will travel to the West Coast to get the procedure if it is not allowed in the state in which they reside. Newsom has gone so far as to take out advertisements on billboards in states that have taken pro-life actions in order to tell women about abortion availability in California.
“An alarming number of states continue to outlaw abortion and criminalize women, and it’s more important than ever to fight like hell for those who need these essential services. We’re doing everything we can to protect people from any retaliation for accessing abortion care while also making it more affordable to get contraceptives,” Newsom said. “Our Legislature has been on the frontlines of this fight, and no other legislative body in the country is doing more to protect these fundamental rights – I’m proud to stand with them again and sign these critical bills into law.”
AB 2223 prevents someone from facing criminal or civil punishment “based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death due to causes that occurred in utero.”
While the term “perinatal death” can refer to fetal deaths at certain ages of gestation, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it can also be defined as “infant deaths that occur at less than 7 days of age” or “infant deaths that occur at less than 28 days of age.”
The language of the bill could raise concerns that a baby can be killed if he or she survives an abortion or is born alive after another complication.
SB 1375 seeks to create more people who can perform abortions in the state, and offers ways for nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives to receive training to be able to perform abortions using aspiration methods, which is when a vacuum device is used to suck a fetus out of a woman’s uterus. According to UCSF Health, women can get this type of abortion at up to 14 weeks gestation.
Some of the laws signed by Newsom are directed specifically at preventing individuals from taking part in the enforcement of laws from other states.
AB 2091 prevents entities from sharing “medical information related to an individual seeking or obtaining an abortion in response to a subpoena or request,” if the directive comes from the laws of another state.
AB 1242 prohibits law enforcement from knowingly arresting or taking part in the arrest of someone getting an abortion or “performing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of an abortion” in California if the abortion is legal under the state’s laws.
Another bill, SB 523, makes contraception more widely attainable.