California legislators have introduced a bill that would protect the state’s doctors who mail abortion pills to patients in other states as well as other protections including those related to so-called “gender-affirming care.”
State Senate Bill 345, introduced last month by state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), would allow doctors to provide and dispense abortion and contraception medication to both in-state and out-of-state patients.
The bill would also ban California from extraditing doctors who face charges in other states for providing abortion services; protect doctors from paying fines to other states for such services; and allow doctors to sue anyone who attempts to stop them from providing abortions.
Additionally, the bill would provide the same protections to doctors who provide “gender-affirming care” such as hormone treatments to patients in states where such treatment is banned.
“Under [Senate Bill] 345, California health care practitioners will be able to provide essential reproductive and gender-affirming care that is legal in California, regardless of their patient’s geographic location,” Skinner said in a March 17 statement.
Medical abortion access has emerged as a battleground issue for states since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, giving states the authority to make their own rules surrounding abortion.
Since then, some states—such as Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Vermont—have proposed or passed similar laws to Senate Bill 345 that protect doctors providing abortion services to those in other states, according to Skinner’s statement.
Meanwhile, 13 other states—including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Idaho, Mississippi, Texas, and Tennessee—have banned abortion practices altogether, including the distribution of abortion services and pills.
Additionally, a federal judge in Texas may soon order an FDA-approved abortion medication to be pulled off the market nationwide.
In the statement, Skinner called state laws banning abortion practices “draconian,” and an “assault,” on “essential” healthcare.
She said the legislation’s aim is to ensure residents of states that have banned abortion procedures will still have access to such.
“Since Roe was overturned last year, California has significantly strengthened and expanded access to reproductive health care and abortion services,” Skinner said. “But as the assault on essential health care accelerates, there is more to do. [Senate Bill] 345 will further protect our health care providers who are extending a lifeline to their patients who may be in a state where medically safe and effective treatments are now illegal.”
The bill is one of 17 pieces of legislation that California Democrats have introduced this year to protect abortion practices.
The bill was referred to the state Senate Rules Committee March 16, but a date for its hearing has not been scheduled.
