In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the states of California, Oregon and Washington have stated that they will continue to be a safe haven for all people seeking access to abortion and other reproductive health services.
The governors of those three states issued a Multi-State Commitment on Friday to defend access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraception, and to protect patients and physicians from efforts by other states to export their abortion bans.
The action is part of the governors' pledge in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's unprecedented decision to strip away a constitutional right that has existed for half a century, leaving abortion regulation to the states.
The sweeping decision means that for patients in more than half the country, home to 33.6 million women, abortion care is illegal or inaccessible.
In a message from video, the governors detail that the West Coast will continue to be a place where reproductive health care will be accessible and protected.
"The Supreme Court has made it clear: They want to strip women of their freedom and allow Republican states to replace it with mandatory birth control because the right to choose an abortion is not 'deeply rooted in history,'" Newsom said.
She added that the group is seeking to turn back the clock to a time when women did not have the right to make decisions about their own bodies, "when women had to seek care in the shadows and at great risk, when women were not treated as equal citizens under the law."
In that regard, he noted that the Supreme Court's decision is another devastating step toward eliminating the rights and freedoms for which Americans have fought on the battlefields, in the courts and in the capitols.
"This is not the America we know, and this is not the California way," Newsom said.
She added that California has joined Oregon and Washington in defending women and protecting access to reproductive health care. “We will not stand by and allow patients seeking reproductive care in our states or the physicians who provide that care to be intimidated with criminal prosecution. We refuse to go back and will fight like hell to protect our rights and our values.”
For her part, Governor Kate Brown noted that “abortion is health care, and no matter who you are or where you come from, Oregon does not turn away anyone seeking care. Let me be clear: you cannot ban abortion, you can only ban safe abortion, and this shameful decision by the Supreme Court will undoubtedly put many people’s lives at risk, in addition to stripping away a constitutional right that disproportionately affects women and has been established by law for most of our lives.”
She clarified that for all Americans who today feel scared, angry and disappointed, “for all those who need an abortion and don’t know where they can access safe reproductive health care, know that you are not alone and the fight is not over.”
Washington Governor Jay Inslee said the law would remain unchanged in the state he leads, "but the threat to patient access and privacy has never been more dangerous."
Even in Washington state, she said, Republicans have introduced about 40 bills in the past six years to roll back abortion rights and access to reproductive care.
“The right to choose should not depend on which party has the majority, but that is where we find ourselves. More than half of the country’s population now lacks safe access to a medical procedure that only a patient and their doctor can and should perform for themselves,” he explained.
Instead, she stressed, law enforcement, vigilantes and judicial systems can force patients to bear the burden of forced pregnancy and childbirth.
"Washington State remains steadfast in our commitment to protecting the ability and right of every patient who comes to our state seeking abortion services, and we will fight like crazy to restore that right to patients across the country," she said.
In recent years, each state has taken steps to expand access to reproductive health care in preparation for such a decision:
Governor Newsom has proposed a $125 million reproductive health package to expand women's access and help prepare for the influx of women seeking reproductive health care from out of state.
Thus, the California Legislature introduced a constitutional amendment to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, while Newsom recently signed legislation eliminating co-pays for abortion care services and signed into law a legislative package to further strengthen access and protect patients and providers, with additional proposals already under consideration with the Legislature.
Oregon led the nation in passing the most comprehensive reproductive health legislation at the time. Governor Brown signed into law the Oregon Reproductive Health Equity Act in 2017, the first bill of its kind that expanded access to reproductive health services for all Oregonians and codified the right to abortion into state law.
Building on that work, Oregon invested $15 million in community-based organizations to expand abortion access statewide and provide immediate support to patients, health care providers, and community advocates, with a focus on rural communities, communities of color, and low-income communities.
In 2018, Governor Inslee signed the Reproductive Parity Act, which requires all health plans that include maternity care services to also cover abortion and contraception. In 2021, he signed the Pregnancy Protection Act, which allows physicians practicing in Catholic-run hospitals to bypass religious-ethical directives and perform a medically necessary abortion when a woman’s life is in danger.
Earlier this year, Inslee signed the Affirm Washington Abortion Access Act, which guarantees the ability of Washington abortion providers to serve anyone who comes seeking an abortion.
Washington law also protects patients and clinic staff from harassment outside their health care facilities.
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