In light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the states of California, Oregon and Washington said they will continue to be a safe haven for all individuals seeking access to abortion and other reproductive health services.
Thus, the governors of those three states issued a Multi-State Pledge on Friday to defend access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraception, in addition to agreeing to protect patients and physicians against efforts by other entities 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 eliminate a constitutional right that has existed for half a century, leaving the regulation of abortion 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 videoThe 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 because the right to choose an abortion is not 'deeply rooted in history,'" Newsom said.
She added that such a group seeks 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 peril, when women were not treated as equal citizens under the law."
In that regard, he noted that the East Supreme Court's decision is another devastating step toward eliminating the rights and freedoms Americans have fought for on battlefields, in courtrooms, and in capitols.
"This is not the America we know, and it's not the California way," Newsom stressed.
He said California has joined Oregon and Washington in standing up for women and protecting access to reproductive health care. "We will not stand on the sidelines and we will not allow patients seeking reproductive care in our states or the physicians who provide that care to be intimidated with criminal prosecutions. We refuse to go back and will fight like crazy to protect our rights and our values."
Governor Kate Brown, for her part, noted that "abortion is health care, and no matter who you are or where you come from, Oregon does not turn away anyone seeking health care. Let me be clear: abortion cannot be banned, only safe abortion can be banned, and this shameful Supreme Court decision will undoubtedly put many people's lives at risk, as well as strip away a constitutional right that disproportionately affects women and has been established by law for most of our lifetimes."
He clarified that all Americans who are feeling scared, angry and disappointed today, "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 that the fight is not over."
Washington Governor Jay Inslee said the law will remain unchanged in the state he leads, "but the threat to patient access and privacy has never been more dangerous".
Even in Washington state, he said, Republicans have introduced about 40 bills in the last six years to roll back abortion rights and access to reproductive care.
"The right of choice 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 his or her physician can and should perform on their own," 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 protect 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," he 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 access for women and help prepare for the influx of women seeking reproductive health care from other states.
Thus, the California Legislature introduced a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, while Newsom recently signed legislation eliminating co-payments for abortion care services and enacted a legislative package to further strengthen access and protect patients and providers, and additional proposals are already being considered 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 care for everyone in the state and codified abortion rights into state law.
Adding to that work, Oregon invested $15 million for community-based organizations to expand access to abortion 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 that allows physicians practicing in Catholic-run hospitals to bypass ethico-religious directives and perform a medically necessary abortion when a woman's life is in danger.
Earlier this year, Inslee signed into law the Affirm Washington Abortion Access Act, which guarantees the ability of Washington's abortion providers to serve anyone who comes seeking an abortion.
Washington law also protects patients and clinic staff from harassment outside their health care institutions.
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