California Democrat lawmakers rapidly advanced a radical pro-abortion bill Tuesday that would create an explicit state constitutional “right” to abort unborn babies.
KTXL reports two Democrat-run committees passed the bill on the same day, the state Senate Judiciary Committee in a 9-1 vote and the Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments in a 3-1 vote.
State Senate pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, introduced the proposed constitutional amendment in response to the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade this summer.
“In California, we cannot standby as women and families are left vulnerable as our highest court moves to strip away our rights and put people in harm’s way,” Atkins said.
Her bill, state Senate Constitutional Amendment 10, would add the following language to the California Constitution: “The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”
State pro-life organizations slammed the dangerous proposal and urged pro-lifers to contact their state lawmakers to oppose it.
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In an email Tuesday, the California Family Council described the amendment as “deadly” because it would “enshrine abortion as a protected right in the state constitution.” And the California Catholic Conference warned that it would allow unborn babies to be aborted up to birth.
“This constitutional amendment as written will legalize and protect abortion up to the point just prior to delivery,” executive director Kathleen Domingo said. “It is distressing that so many California legislators would sign their names to legislation that allows the taking of a human life moments before birth.”
The AP reports lawmakers are pushing the amendment forward at an “unusually fast pace,” and another hearing is scheduled Thursday in the state Senate Appropriations Committee.
The proposed amendment needs to pass the legislature by a two-thirds majority by the end of June in order for it to be placed on the November ballot for voters to decide.
Here’s more from the AP:
… in 1972, California voters added a right to privacy to the state constitution. State courts have cited that right to privacy while upholding many of the state’s abortion laws. Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 decision that prevents states from banning all abortions, was based on the U.S. Constitution’s implied right to privacy. …
Now, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democrats in charge of the state Legislature are worried their state constitution’s right to privacy might not be enough to protect abortion in the future should the political winds change and usher in new leadership in the state.
California already has very few limits on abortion, and state Democrat leaders are working to expand the killing of unborn babies even more.
Newsom wants to spend an additional $145 million this year specifically on abortions. The money would be used to fund elective abortions for women whose insurance does not cover it, government promotion of abortion, travel and lodging expenses for women who have to travel for abortions and incentives for medical students to become abortionists.
The money could go a long way toward actually helping mothers and babies in need, such as expanding prenatal care and other basic medical care that helps reduce infant and maternal mortality, financial and housing assistance, education, counseling and more. But the California leader wants to use it for abortions instead.
Newsom said abortion is one of California’s “values,” and he will “fight like hell” to “protect it.” He also wants California to become an abortion destination for women in states that are expected to ban the killing of unborn babies in abortions if Roe is overturned.
California has very few limits on abortion, and it forces taxpayers to pay for them. A new law slated to go into effect next year will force all public colleges and universities to provide abortions on campus. Newsom and Democrat lawmakers also are working closely with the abortion industry to expand abortions in other ways.
California abortion facilities reported 132,680 abortions in 2017, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
ACTION ALERT: Contact the California Senate Appropriations Committee here. Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing call-in information: Participant Phone Number: 877-226-8163, Access Code: 5338635.
