California is setting itself up to become the nation’s largest abortion provider, with state elected officials and pro-abortion advocates fearing that the US Supreme Court might overturn Roe. v Wade when deciding two abortions rights cases before the court this term. The state is already one of the most lenient as far as “access” to abortion goes, and this expansion would end countless lives.
Many states around the country have taken steps to limit abortion and protect the rights of the unborn. For example, some states have implemented measures to curb access to abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. In California, however, abortion on the books is allowed up until viability, typically around the 25th week of pregnancy, and others have noted that even though that timeframe is listed, there really is not a solid limit on when an abortion can be obtained.
Making matters worse is that the push to expand abortion access is not only coming from activists, but directly from California Governor Gavin Newsom himself. According to the LA Times, “Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders have asked a group of reproductive health experts to propose policies to bolster the state’s abortion infrastructure and prepare it for more patients. Lawmakers plan to begin debating the ideas when they reconvene in January.”
This is not the first time the governor has taken a clear stance against unborn children: he has attempted to stifle pro-life speech, and most recently, via SB 742, limited the ability of pro-life activists to provide encouragement and information to women who may feel abortion is the only option available to them. Fortunately, ADF recently secured a preliminary victory against the law.
In addition to the limits on free speech, Newsom has also signed laws that require public colleges in the states to stock abortion pills that kill unborn children up to the 10th week of pregnancy. This essentially makes campuses abortion clinics, and again is limiting the alternatives that are presented to women who feel they have no options other than abortion for unplanned pregnancies. Going even further, California also has a law that allows children to hide abortions from their parents and prevents insurance companies from disclosing the services that children are using.
All of these laws are already on the books in California, and the expansion of abortion rights that the governor is seeking has the potential to drastically increase abortion numbers if Roe v Wade is overturned. Abortion experts from the Guttmacher Institute predicted that abortions in the state could increase by 3,000%, because 26 states plan to ban abortion if given the chance, causing an influx of out-of-state individuals coming to California to obtain abortions.
This blatant disregard for life among our state elected officials seems to be growing, and prolife Californians face an uphill battle in protecting the lives of the unborn and of expecting mothers and fathers against these efforts.
