California enacts new abortion laws, expecting copycats

Democrats are holding up California arsenic a exemplary for policies that purpose to make nan authorities nan nation’s starring haven for abortion rights. | POLITICO illustration/Photo by iStock

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Nurses astatine nan low-slung maze-like student wellness analyzable astatine nan University of California, Santa Barbara activity year-round to make judge nan shelves of their in-house drugstore stay stocked pinch antivirals, painkillers and antibiotics for nan tens of thousands of students they serve.

This month, they were required to person 2 much narcotics connected hand: mifepristone and misoprostol — nan regimen that induces an abortion.

The first-in-the-nation instruction for student wellness centers to transportation abortion pills is conscionable 1 of much than a twelve caller California policies that purpose to make nan authorities nan nation’s starring haven for abortion rights. Now, Democrats are holding up California arsenic a exemplary arsenic New York, Washington, Illinois and different bluish states hole to enact akin policies successful 2023.

“People look to California for leadership, and successful these acheronian moments, we want to beryllium a agleam light,” Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is already defending immoderate of nan caller abortion-rights laws from ineligible challenges, said successful an interview. “We made a paper of options that’s now publically disposable for anyone. These laws are fresh to beryllium duplicated and replicated.”

Health workers astatine UCSB spent much than a twelvemonth preparing to instrumentality nan program, and moreover began prescribing nan pills past April, good up of nan January deadline. They’ve written prescriptions for astir 50 students truthful far.

“I judge abortion is wellness care, and it’s important to show students that it’s normal and thing they should expect and demand,” said Kellie DeLozier, an OB-GYN astatine nan student wellness halfway who is besides an alumnus of nan college.

After nan Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade past June, GOP-controlled states raced to outlaw abortion, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom and nan state’s Democratic legislature sped successful nan other direction. They enacted caller ineligible protections and tech privateness measures for patients and providers, allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to thief low-income group spend nan procedure, and created programs to turn nan aesculapian workforce needed to grip nan out-of-state influx.

The state’s fierce stance made it a target of nan anti-abortion movement.

Conservative defense groups are suing to effort to artifact immoderate of nan caller laws. Republicans successful D.C., specifically citing California’s caller field pill mandate, introduced a bill past week that would portion national backing from immoderate assemblage aliases assemblage that participates. And colleges crossed nan authorities are adding caller information measures arsenic they brace for nan benignant of disruptive protests agelong seen extracurricular abortion clinics.

At nan Santa Barbara campus, for instance, that meant closing each nan entrances to its wellness analyzable isolated from one, tucked distant adjacent nan building’s dingy loading dock to make it harder for anti-abortion protesters to large wind nan building.

“I deliberation it astir apt will happen, but it hasn’t happened yet,” said Angie Magaña, a caregiver nurse and caregiver practitioner astatine nan assemblage who led nan implementation of nan pill program. Instead, she said, there’s been “nothing but acceptance and a batch of appreciation” from nan surrounding community.

Some of nan state’s policies — including nan instruction for abortion pills connected assemblage campuses — are conscionable now taking effect, but were signed into rule earlier Roe fell, aft abortion-rights advocates formed a conjugation called nan Future of Abortion Council to push lawmakers to hole nan authorities for a Supreme Court ruling they saw arsenic inevitable.

“California has really been astatine nan forefront of states reasoning astir what they tin do and what each nan angles into nan problem mightiness be,” said Andrea Miller, president of National Institute for Reproductive Health.

Now, Maine Democrats are pushing a measure to destruct copays for abortion, a argumentation California enacted past twelvemonth and that Bonta is defending successful tribunal from a suit revenge by anti-abortion situation gestation centers.

And successful Minnesota, wherever Democrats flipped power of nan legislature successful nan 2022 midterms, lawmakers are pushing nan Reproductive Freedom Defense Act that replicates respective California policies aimed astatine protecting patients and providers from ineligible peril.

“One of nan places we looked to for inspiration was nan blueprint that came retired of California,” Democratic authorities Sen. Erin Maye Quade said successful an interview. “Minnesota has ne'er had a reproductive state mostly successful some chambers, ever, successful its history, until now. So it was a caller musculus we had to develop.”

California’s example, she added, was “super helpful.”

Illinois conscionable passed a rule to protect doctors treating out-of-state patients, arsenic California did past year. And Missouri and Washington lawmakers person introduced bills akin to California’s that would forestall authorities officials and rule enforcement from obtaining individual aesculapian information from play trackers and different wellness apps.

Massachusetts’ rule to make abortion pills disposable connected nationalist assemblage and assemblage campuses, inspired by California’s and passed successful July, is group to return effect later this year. And New York whitethorn beryllium correct down them.

“Each authorities is, obviously, different, but we decidedly are watching what [California] is doing,” said New York Democratic Assemblymember Amy Paulin, who chairs nan wellness committee successful Albany. “Like them, we person to supply access, to nan champion of our ability, for group successful our states and let group to travel present and avail themselves of it arsenic well.”

New York lawmakers besides voted Tuesday to put a law amendment codifying abortion authorities connected nan ballot successful 2024 — thing California did past year.

Maryland lawmakers precocious invited Bonta to testify arsenic they debated their ain measures to shield abortion providers and their patients from prosecution, and California officials met pinch Vice President Kamala Harris, formerly nan state’s lawyer general, to locomotion her done nan caller policies and connection proposal for different states that want to travel suit.

The Newsom management created a website that lists each of nan actions nan authorities has taken related to abortion — administrative, executive and legislative — pinch nan afloat measure connection disposable should immoderate legislator successful different authorities want to transcript it.

“The type of conflict we’re having present is occurring elsewhere successful nan country, truthful there’s nary request to reinvent nan wheel,” said Julia Spiegel, nan lawman ineligible caput for Newsom.

Becoming an ‘abortion sanctuary’

California’s caller abortion laws were crafted to service 2 purposes: To statement up protections for group seeking and providing abortions and to grow entree to nan procedure.

In nan first class are laws that artifact California rule enforcement and backstage companies from cooperating pinch different states that effort to prosecute personification complete an abortion performed successful California and laws that besides artifact out-of-state subpoenas and requests for accusation astir nan procedure. There is besides a caller rule to shield group successful nan authorities from criminal and civilian liability if they acquisition a miscarriage — a nonstop consequence to a charismatic successful Kings County who jailed 2 California women successful caller years complete alleged supplier usage during gestation that resulted successful stillbirth.

Other caller authorities laws are aimed astatine preparing California’s clinics to attraction for nan thousands of patients from astir nan state who are already walking from anti-abortion states — and making judge that influx doesn’t impede California residents’ access.

More than $200 cardinal successful authorities backing has been allocated to thief group from different states salary for travel, lodging and different needs, reimburse doctors for providing abortions to group incapable to spend them, and thief clinics prosecute and train much providers.

Most of that backing has yet to beryllium dispersed. But arsenic clinics successful nan authorities proceed to beryllium inundated pinch patients six months aft nan autumn of Roe, Dipti Singh, nan wide counsel for Planned Parenthood of Pasadena and nan San Gabriel Valley, said different caller authorities laws are already having an impact. Among them: a swifter and easier process for out-of-state providers to go licensed successful California supply caller ineligible protections for aesculapian workers who execute nan procedure.

“We were acrophobic galore providers would opportunity they wouldn’t do abortions [on out-of-state patients] anymore because of nan individual and master risks. But we’re conscionable not seeing that,” she said. “And patients are continuing to travel each complete because California is going supra and beyond to guarantee it’s a reproductive state state.”

State officials, including Newsom, aren’t conscionable bracing for walking patients — they’re actively courting them.

In summation to paying for billboards past twelvemonth successful South Dakota, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas promoting nan authorities arsenic an “abortion sanctuary,” nan Newsom management launched an online instrumentality to thief group astir nan state find a California provider, make an assignment and study astir nan state’s caller ineligible protections and financial supports.

In nan 4 months since nan tract launched, nan governor’s agency told POLITICO, location person been astir 60,000 unsocial visitors and astir 60 percent of them are from extracurricular of California.

Abortion comes to field

The abortion pill instruction now taking effect astatine nan state’s astir three-dozen nationalist assemblage and assemblage campuses is aimed astatine reducing nan strain connected clinics serving nan organization and connected making it easier for students to terminate a pregnancy. Before nan pill distribution programme launched, students astatine UCSB — nan state’s 3rd biggest UC field — had to recreation astir 14 miles to nan nearest Planned Parenthood session to get nan drugs, pinch nary bully nationalist transit option. Students astatine different campuses said they faced akin barriers.

“A batch of students don’t person cars,” said Courtney Leos, a student astatine Cal State University, Long Beach who lobbied for nan policy. “And clip was different issue. Classes tin tally each time from 8 a.m. good into nan evening, erstwhile tons of clinics are already closed.”

Magaña and her colleagues are now getting nan connection retired to students, asking nan school’s coaches, clubs and RAs to stock nan news that group don’t person to time off field to get nan medication. And if students are uninsured aliases acrophobic to person nan supplier show up connected their parents’ insurance, nan schoolhouse has allocated tens of thousands of dollars to thief screen out-of-pocket expenses.

Magaña said neither she nor immoderate of her colleagues who activity successful intersexual wellness had prescribed nan pills before. Last year, they and different student wellness halfway workers crossed nan thoroughfare received training from Essential Access Health — a nonprofit that supports clinics passim nan authorities and runs California’s Title X family readying program. Part of that training was a “values clarification” exercise designed to suss retired immoderate concerns, misconceptions aliases biases wellness workers mightiness not beryllium alert of arsenic they prepared to supply abortions to students for nan first time.

Wearing a achromatic laboratory overgarment dotted pinch pins, 1 reference “mind your ain uterus,” Magaña explained that, acknowledgment to nan training, nary of her colleagues refused to return portion successful prescribing and distributing nan pills.

“We told them: This is conscionable portion of nan scope of services that we supply now and you tin time off your individual beliefs astatine home,” she said, adding that overmuch of nan training besides focused connected nan information astir nan pills’ information and efficacy. “We said: Really what you’re doing is giving students nan safer option. And erstwhile we talk astir it for illustration that, astir group opportunity okay.”