SACRAMENTO—Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law this week that eliminates out-of-pocket costs for abortions and abortion-related services.
“As states across the country attempt to move us backward by restricting fundamental reproductive rights, California continues to protect and advance reproductive freedom for all,” Newsom said in a statement.
Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 245, the Abortion Accessibility Act, during a virtual ceremony with California Legislative Women’s Caucus members and other pro-choice organizations.
Introduced by Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach), SB 245 prohibits health plans and insurers from requiring co-pay, deductible, or other costs for women seeking abortion services—including pre-abortion and follow-up services.
The law also prohibits health plans and insurers from imposing utilization management practices on covered abortion or abortion-related services.
It also includes removing in-person follow-up visits and ultrasounds for Medi-Cal abortion providers.
California law permits pregnant women to terminate a pregnancy unless the fetus becomes viable—meaning survivable outside of the uterus, typically around 28 weeks old—or to protect the mother’s life or health.
Pro-life advocates like Seth Gruber, a national pro-life speaker with Life Training Institute, a Christian advocacy group based in Texas, told The Epoch Times, the new bill is part of a “larger strategy.”
“It’s child’s play compared to what they want to do,” Gruber said. “The council wants to turn California into a sanctuary state for an abortion.”
