SACRAMENTO, CA – Pastors and their congregations plan to show up at the state capitol by the hundreds tomorrow in an effort to persuade state legislators to vote “no” on a bill that decriminalizes infanticide. Not only will they visit the individual offices of their legislators, but they will also testify against AB 2223 during a hearing scheduled in the Assembly Health Committee.
The crowds are coming in response to the coordinated efforts of three organizations, Real Impact, Capitol Resource Institute, and the California Family Council, who invited pastors, congregants, and pro-life citizens from around California to attend a special lobby day to persuade legislators to oppose AB 2223. They originally expected a few hundred to sign up, but the response has been overwhelming. So far over 1500 people have committed to travel to Sacramento from all over the state appalled that legislators would propose removing criminal and civil penalties from mothers and their accomplices who kill or let die breathing newborns.
“We are thrilled to see Californians all over the state traveling hundreds of miles to tell legislators decriminalizing infanticide is barbaric and indefensible,” said Jonathan Keller, President of California Family Council. “A political culture that justifies killing millions of children in the womb is now declaring open season on unwanted newborns. Every Californian must oppose this heinous bill.”
“It’s great to see the Church rise in an effort to stop the infanticide of innocent babies,” said Real Impact Director Gina Gleason. “A.B. 2223 has awakened a sleeping giant.”
“This is a ‘we the people’ moment with everyday citizens using their constitutionally protected right to voice their disapproval of legislative proposals,” said Karen England, President of the Capitol Resource Institute. “Californians know it’s disingenuous to claim, like those supporting AB 2223 do, that perinatal death does not include babies after they are born.”
As currently written, AB 2223 shields a mother and anyone who assists her from civil and criminal charges for any “actions or omissions” related to her pregnancy, “including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death.” Although definitions of “perinatal death” vary, all of them include the demise of newborns seven days or more after birth.
Bill author Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks recently added some additional text to supposedly narrow the meaning of perinatal death. The new text reads, “perinatal death due to a pregnancy-related cause.” Yet these words hold little meaning because they are not defined in the bill. It could justify a mother killing a breathing newborn because she suffers from post-partum depression, which is a “pregnancy-related cause.”
AB 2223 also removes the duty of a coroner to determine how a newborn died if the death is known or suspected to be the result of a self-induced or criminal abortion. If a coroner decides to investigate a newborn’s death under these circumstances, the reason for the newborn’s death can’t be used to prosecute anyone involved with the death. This law would leave babies born alive after a failed abortion vulnerable to murder or death by neglect.
The bill also gives a mother the right to sue any law enforcement agency for investigating or threatening to investigate her “pregnancy outcome” including the perinatal death of her child. So if someone finds a dead newborn in a dumpster, law enforcement is expected to ask no questions or look further into the matter if they suspect the child died after a failed abortion or from any “pregnancy-related cause.”
Governor Newsom and his “Future of Abortion Council” want to turn California into a “sanctuary state” for abortions. Organizers listed AB 2223 as part of their legislation package implementing a 45-point plan to “expand and protect access” to abortion in California.
Below are links to AB 2223 opposition letters from legal organizations explaining how this bill decriminalizes infanticide.
More articles, position letters, and videos of hearings and interviews opposing AB 2223 can be found at ab2223.org
Take Action
- Call your Assembly Member and tell them to vote “NO” on AB 2223. We will get you connected here.
- Watch the hearing in the Assembly Health Committee starting April 19 at 4 p.m. and voice your opposition in the committee on your phone.
