Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins, along with Speaker Anthony Rendon and legislative colleagues, in partnership with Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and NARAL Pro-Choice California, announced Wednesday that Measure SCA 10, an explicit constitutional right to abortion and contraception, has been introduced in the California State Senate.
The legislation is intended to protect abortion rights in the state constitution, given the pending U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"Too many times, history has shown us that human rights must be enshrined in the constitution so that no one can infringe on them. This is one of those historic moments, and it must receive a historic response," Atkins said.
In that regard, he noted that their duty as legislators is to fight for the people of California and their right to make decisions about their own bodies and access critical medical care. "This constitutional amendment is the additional armor we need for that battle."
The constitutional amendment is co-authored by Speaker Rendón and numerous legislators in both houses.
"To deny women the ability to make their own health care decisions is to deny that we are all equal," President Rendon said.
"By ensuring that Californians have the right to choose enshrined in our constitution, we will ensure that everyone can determine their own future as they see fit, regardless of the political whims of a radicalized Supreme Court," he said.
SCA 10, which requires a two-thirds majority vote of both the Senate and Assembly, would place a constitutional amendment on the November 2022 ballot for California voters to explicitly establish the fundamental constitutional right to abortion and the right to choose or refuse contraception, which is consistent with and reinforces the state's existing rights to privacy and equal protection.
"Recent events have shown us that we must take every step imaginable to ensure that abortion rights remain possible in California. No judge or politician should be able to rob people of their power to control their own bodies, their own lives, their own futures," explained Jodi Hicks, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
For her part, NARAL Pro-Choice California Director Shannon Olivieri Hovis detailed that, in the face of countless attacks on reproductive freedom and abortion access, "now is the time to take bold action to ensure that California can reach this moment and defend our values as a reproductive freedom state."
The introduction of the SCA follows a slew of legislation introduced this year: the Legislative Women's Caucus has a package of bills aimed at expanding and protecting the reproductive rights of Californians and those who may need to come here to seek critical medical care.
The 2022-23 state budget proposals currently being negotiated by the Legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom also prioritize more than $125 million for a variety of reproductive health appropriations.
SCA 10 will be heard in policy committees next week, and votes from both chambers are needed by June 30 to qualify for the November ballot.
On the introduction of the constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in California, Governor Gavin Newson noted "California will not stand by as unprecedented attacks on the fundamental right to choose endanger women across the country."
"This measure will ensure that women in our state have an inviolable right to a safe and legal abortion that is protected in our constitution."
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