Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his intent to make California an “abortion sanctuary,” and he has already taken action to make his plans a reality. Sickeningly, Newsom’s new budget proposal provides incentives for medical students to become abortionists.
The program includes $20 million to help students who commit to becoming abortionists pay off loans or pay for the remainder of their schooling. Many students are overwhelmed by the cost of medical school and will be tempted by Newsom’s incentive. As a result, students who may not have otherwise, will be drawn to the abortion industry.
Newsom’s proposal violates conscience protection rights for students and the religious freedom rights of many healthcare institutions. It seeks to force religious healthcare providers to offer abortions or go out of business, harming many underserved people in California.
Other parts of Newsom’s budget include funding for women to travel to California seeking abortions. The funding will cover their gas, lodging, transportation, and child care. However, struggling mothers who want to keep their unborn child will receive no such help.
To make matters worse, the state of California plans to continue subsidizing abortions for low-income women. Instead of providing funding to help struggling mothers care for their children, Newsom is further hurting vulnerable women.
When families are struggling to meet their basic needs, the last thing they need is more abortion “access.” “We know that 75% of women who seek abortion are poor or low-income,” wrote executive director for the California Catholic Conference Kathleen Buckley Domingo. “We know that housing and food insecurity, intimate partner violence, fear of losing a job, lack of childcare, and feeling alone with no resources are the main reasons women choose abortion. Where is the report addressing those paramount issues?”
Instead of addressing the issues that cause women to seek abortions, Newsom is simply encouraging women to undergo a tragic loss through abortion. Women will continue to struggle with those underlying factors that influenced their decision to abort the child and will likely undergo even more pain and suffering after the abortion. Many women who obtain abortions spend the rest of their lives dealing with immense grief and mental health issues.
Families are in need of more life-affirming policies, not life-ending ones. Mothers do not want to lose their children; they want to solve the underlying issues that have led them to desperation.
We have a duty to be a voice for the voiceless and stand up for the rights of the vulnerable. This is why we must denounce Newsom’s abhorrent budget proposal in the strongest terms possible. Not only is he failing to do his job of serving the people, he is doing the opposite by harming them.
Please pray that our legislature strikes down this proposal and that unborn children are once again valued and protected in our state.
