California voters will decide this November whether to codify the right to abortion and contraception into the state’s constitution, an effort by Democratic lawmakers to expand abortion services after Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24.
Proposition 1, also known as the Constitutional Right to Reproductive Freedom, would explicitly add to California’s constitution “the fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and the fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”
California’s top Democrats—Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senate President pro tempore Toni Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon—led the effort to draft the ballot measure which passed the Senate in a 29–8 vote on June 20 and in the Assembly on June 27 in a 58–17 vote.
“California will not sit on the sidelines as unprecedented attacks on the fundamental right to choose [to] endanger women across the country,” Newsom said in a statement back in June. “This measure will ensure that women in our state have an inviolable right to a safe and legal abortion that is protected in our constitution.”
The move comes as dozens of states have begun restricting abortion access after the Supreme Court on June 24 overturned Roe v. Wade, the seminal 1973 precedent that largely legalized abortion in the United States. The recent ruling gave the power back to states to decide whether they will permit abortion.
Democrats in California have since been doubling down on expanding abortion access with a series of other bills passed, with Newsom signing 13 pieces of legislation related to abortion on Sept. 27, deeming California to be a “sanctuary state” for women seeking abortions.
Alexander Snyder, CEO of Life Legal Defense Foundation—a legal nonprofit firm advocating for pro-life policies in court—told The Epoch Times that Proposition 1 paired with Assembly Bill (AB) 2223 will “legalize infanticide under certain circumstances.”
AB 2223, which Newsom signed into law this year eliminates the requirement that a coroner investigates the death of an unborn or newborn baby, including up to several days after birth, resulting from “suspected self-induced or criminal abortion,” according to the bill text.
Though a coroner could still investigate such cases, the law prohibits using a coroner’s statements on the abortion to support a criminal prosecution or civil case against the mother—or anyone who contributed to the death with her consent.
“They want to make California the place where people can come for any kind of abortion at any point in their pregnancy without any consequences whatsoever,” Snyder said.
The California Catholic Conference, a public policy advocacy group for the Catholic Church in the state, said in a statement that “voters are faced with a choice to keep abortion law in our state as it is or to vote in favor of a new constitutional amendment that would permanently expand and vastly increase abortions in our state, without doing anything to give vulnerable women a real choice.”
California also launched a taxpayer-funded website connecting women with abortion resources and services, including how to seek financial assistance earlier this month.
Proponents of Proposition 1 have raised $9.3 million in campaign funds so far and have received endorsements from the governor, Democratic U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the California Medical Association.
Opponents include former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell, the Republican Party of California, California Conference of Catholic Bishops, Democrats for Life of America, and the Knights of Columbus.
