In a news conference that mixed sorrow, anger and resolve, Gov. Gavin Newsom, state lawmakers and women’s health advocates on Friday afternoon, June 24, condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade while announcing steps to protect abortion rights in California and offer abortions to out-of-state women.
Describing himself as “a little less sorry than pissed,” Newsom signed a bill intended to make California a safe haven for abortion-seeking women in states that have outlawed or will outlaw the procedure in the wake of the high court’s momentous ruling.
The bill, AB 1666, seeks to protect out-of-state abortion seekers from laws in other states that punish them for seeking abortion care beyond state lines. A new law in Texas, for example, allows private citizens to sue anyone who “aids or abets” a woman getting an abortion.
It’s hypocritical, Newsom said, for a majority of justices one day to deny state’s rights in regulating the open carry of guns in public while asserting states’ rights to deny women equal rights and bodily autonomy.
Leaders of states banning abortion “don’t believe in life. Because if they believed in life, they would be doing all the things to support those after they’re born … they are pro-conception to birth … that’s all this is about.”
Noting Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion that the court should review protections for same-sex marriage and contraception, Newsom mused that Thomas’ logic would threaten his own marriage. Thomas is Black, while his wife is White.
“They’re coming after you next,” the governor said. “This is not just about women … this is not just about reproductive freedom.”
Newsom’s remarks followed those of his wife, Jennifer Seibel Newsom, who held back tears as she spoke.
“I am outraged that children today will grow up in a country where girls and women will have fewer rights than my generation had,” she said. “But I know history will know this Supreme Court ruling doesn’t reflect the true values of our nation and it doesn’t reflect California’s values.”
The court’s ruling “made my stomach drop. I frankly have been sick to my stomach all morning,” said Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego.
To women in abortion-banning states, Atkins said: “You are welcome here. You have choices here. And you have allies here.”
The “darkness” of the court’s “malicious” decision “decimated women’s rights to bodily integrity,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood.
“This is the illegitimate product of a frightening alliance of power-hungry authoritarians, religious fundamentalist beliefs, and corporate greed,” Rendon said. “We cannot, and in California we will not stand by as the constitutional rights of women are stripped away.”
Attorney General Rob Bonta said he will use “the full authority of my office” to protect abortion rights. “This decision fails to protect us but I and California will not,” he said.
Anticipating Roe v. Wade’s demise, Newsom and the state’s Democratic legislative majority for weeks have worked to bolster California’s already robust abortion protections.
A ballot measure to enshrine abortion as a state constitutional right could go before voters in November.
Newsom, who wants to spend $125 million to expand abortion access and prepare for women seeking reproductive health care from other states, and his fellow Democratic governors in Oregon and Washington are working to defend abortion rights.
Newsom also recently signed bills eliminating co-pays for abortion services and protecting abortion providers and patients.
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