The two-year California State Legislative session ended last Saturday night with the passage of several bills CFC supported and a bunch more it opposed.
Here is a brief overview of the bills currently on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk, waiting for a decision.
GOOD BILLS
SB 1414: Passed: Makes it a Felony to Buy Children for Sex
Currently, soliciting a minor for sex is only a misdemeanor. The original version of SB 1414 increases the penalty to a felony in all cases. Several committees watered down that version of the bill. Yet the bill now on the governor’s desk lets a judge decide if soliciting is a felony or a misdemeanor for the first conviction and requires the prosecutor to also prove minors 16 and older were victims of human trafficking. Read more here.
SB 268 Makes rape of an intoxicated person a “violent” felony:
Currently, rape is not considered a “violent” felony if the victim was raped after being intoxicated by the assailant. This bill makes the rape of an intoxicated person a “violent” felony if the rapist caused the intoxication by administering a controlled substance in order to sexually assault the victim.
BAD BILLS
SB 729: Passed: IVF for Single and Same-Sex Couples
California’s government continues to blow holes in the biblical model of the family. This bill has decided it is not fair that God determined only opposite-sex unions can produce children, leaving singles and same-sex couples with no way to have biological offspring. In their never-ending fight for fairness and equality, the legislature passed SB 729 to fix this injustice by mandating all private health insurance plans cover infertility treatments, such as (IVF), for women without a male sexual partner and for the female surrogates hired by men to give birth to their children. Read more here.
AB 2085: Passed: Strips city councils of their right to reject abortion clinics
This bill would force cities to approve abortion clinics as a legal right, removing their ability to decide otherwise. Currently, cities and counties have the authority to permit or reject businesses like casinos, tobacco stores, and adult entertainment venues within their jurisdictions. This bill would prevent local governments from saying no to abortion clinics if they met pre-established development requirements. AB 2085 would also exempt abortion clinics from the CEQA environmental requirements that other businesses must follow. Read more here.
AB 2490: Passed: Turning Emergency Rooms into Abortion Clinics
By establishing a grant program for training and equipment, this bill hopes to expand the number of emergency rooms that do abortions across California.
AB 1810: Passed: Guarantees birth control and menstrual products for female inmates
CFC supports providing female inmates with menstrual products but questions this bill’s requirement that “all birth control methods and emergency contraception approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shall be made available to incarcerated persons who are capable of becoming pregnant.” (Notice the new non-gendered wording they are using to describe female inmates.)
AB 2319: Passed: Transgender indoctrination for maternal healthcare workers
This bill mandates implicit bias training for healthcare personnel in hospitals that provide maternal care. The training would include “recognition of intersecting identities, including, but not limited to, nonbinary persons and persons of transgender experience, and the multiple layers of potential biases that could come into play.” This bias would include thinking only women can give birth and requiring pregnant women to be referred to as birthing people. In practice, AB 2319 would marginalize the same medical professionals with biblical views about biology and reproduction.
AB 2442: Passed: Expedites licenses for doctors who sterilize kids with trans treatments
This bill requires medical licensing boards to expedite the licensure process for applicants willing to use sterilizing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and mutilating surgeries to “treat” gender-confused individuals. This also includes those medical professionals who provide mental health care that “respects the gender identity of the patient, as experienced and defined by the patient.” Read more.
SB 954: Passed: Mandates Public Schools Distribute Free Condoms to 7-12 Graders
The bill requires all public schools in grades 9-12 to provide condoms free of charge and post a notice about the requirement. It would also require each public school to allow condoms to be distributed to 7-12 grade students in health classes. It would encourage schools to involve non-profits like Planned Parenthood to provide condoms. It would also prohibit a school from prohibiting free condom distribution. Lastly, the bill mandates that retail stores cannot refuse to sell condoms to minors. Read more.
Take Action:
The final decision on these bills is now in the hands of Governor Gavin Newsom. You can let the Governor know what you think about these bills by going to: www.gov.ca.gov/contact/
Once you get to the page, select the “Topic” drop-down menu and select “An Active Bill.” Then, use the drop-down menu to select a bill from the list of active bills. Finally, click the “Leave a Comment” button and click the “Next” button to send a note to the Governor.
