The California Senate quickly passed a radical pro-abortion bill Monday that would create an explicit state constitutional “right” to abort unborn babies.
Fox News reports lawmakers voted 29-7 to pass the proposed amendment and sent it to the state Assembly for consideration.
State Senate pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, introduced the proposal earlier this month in response to the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade this summer.
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.”
ACTION ALERT: Contact California Assembly members and urge opposition to the bill.
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.
Pro-life advocates urged lawmakers to reject the dangerous proposal, saying it would harm women and babies.
Among them was Kellee Bradford, a pro-life advocate who had five abortions as a young woman. During a state Senate Judiciary Committee meeting June 14, Bradford told lawmakers that the abortion facility lied to her and, although she wanted to be a mother, she felt like no one would support her.
“I felt pushed and obligated to get the abortion because I didn’t have any support,” she said. “Being faced with an unplanned pregnancy is terrifying. So when you go and speak with an abortion counselor, they sell it to you … I was lied to regarding what abortion really is.”
Abortion is so common and promoted so openly in California that many women do not know where to turn for support if they want to keep their baby, Bradford said.
“Abortion is not health care. It has left me and millions of women broken, regretful, ashamed, depressed and some even suicidal,” she told lawmakers. “It’s a temporary solution to a much bigger problem. … SCA 10 is going to make the problem even worse.”
Others speaking out against the proposal include the California Family Council and California Catholic Conference. They warned that the amendment is so extreme that it would allow unborn babies to be aborted up to birth.
“The sad reality is that California already has some of the most accommodating abortion laws and services in the nation,” the state Catholic bishops said in a statement opposing the bill. “And by providing extensive funding for abortion services without any corresponding equitable funding for pregnant women and mothers, the state exercises a destructive, coercive power in favor of ending innocent lives.”
But Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion chain in the U.S., praised lawmakers’ action Monday.
“We look forward to working with California Assembly leaders and members to ensure #SCA10 moves quickly so California voters have the opportunity to reaffirm their overwhelming support for abortion care and contraception, and uphold California’s values of access and equity,” Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California responded on Twitter.
California already has very few limits on abortion, and state Democrat leaders are working to expand the killing of unborn babies even more.
Gov. Gavin 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 forced taxpayers to pay for elective abortions for many years, and young girls can get abortions without their parents’ knowledge or consent. 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 California Assembly members and urge opposition to the bill.
