SACRAMENTO—California’s Democratic lawmakers announced this week their intent to expand abortion access across the state by classifying it as a “fundamental right” through an amendment in the state constitution.
According to the bill text, the amendment would “prohibit the state from denying or interfering with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) introduced the amendment—Senate Constitutional Amendment 10—in collaboration with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and the National Abortion Rights Action League California on June 8, just one day after the primaries.
“It is our duty as legislators to fight for the people of California and their right to make decisions about their own bodies and access critical health care. This constitutional amendment is the additional armor we need for that battle,” Atkins said in a statement.
The bill is joint-authored by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) and co-authored by 30 senators and 52 assemblymembers, all Democrats.
“Adding a constitutional protection for abortion is precisely the clarity and reassurance patients and providers need in this moment of crisis,” Sue Dunlap, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, said in a statement.
Now pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the amendment will require a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and Assembly by June 30 to qualify for the general election ballot on Nov. 8.
The bill is being expedited and will not require the governor’s signature to go before state voters and will be heard as early as next week.
The amendment comes on the heels of the leak of an opinion draft from the U.S. Supreme Court suggesting a majority vote may overturn the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade, for which a final decision is expected as early as next week.
A study from the Guttmacher Institute showed that California is likely to experience a 3,000 percent increase of women coming from other states to get an abortion.
Currently, there are about 46,000 women whose closest abortion provider would be in California, and the study estimated that the number could increase to 1.4 million as some states further restrict abortion services. Abortions in California make up 17 percent of all abortions in the nation, while the state accounts for 12 percent of the country’s population.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco and the California Catholic Conference of Bishops quickly opposed the amendment, saying that California already has some of the most accommodating abortion laws in the country and that the amendment would lead to the legalization of late-term abortions.
“This constitutional amendment, as written, will legalize and protect abortion up to the point just prior to delivery. It is distressing that so many California legislators would sign their names to legislation that allows the taking of a human life moments before birth,” the coalition of bishops said in a statement.
The California Catholic Conference said they will be “actively engaged” in opposing the amendment and “asking the state’s 12 million Catholics to work to raise awareness and vigorous opposition in our dioceses, parishes, and communities.”
The American Council, a coalition of pastors and church communities in the country, also opposed the amendment.
“[Senate Constitutional Amendment 10] is the single most consequential and momentous measure that will be voted on in California history,” the coalition said in a statement. “If Senate Constitutional Amendment 10 passes, California will become the abortion sanctuary destination of the nation.”
