SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGTV) – California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced two sponsored state bills that aim to protect access to abortion care.
The attorney general says the incoming presidential administration poses a threat to reproductive rights and is supporting two bills that would make sure Californians continue to have access to abortion care.
“I want to make it unequivocally clear: California will remain a safe haven for reproductive rights and access to abortion care, no matter who is in the White House,” Bonta said.
“With Prop 1, we enshrined the right to abortion in California’s constitution. But this right is meaningless if it can’t be safely accessed,” said Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento). “This law ensures that women in California will have access to medication abortion, even in an uncertain federal environment.”
California voted overwhelmingly in 2022 to confirm the right to an abortion in the state Constitution, approving Proposition 1 with more than 66% of the votes.
Mifepristone, one of two pills used in medication abortions, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000.
Assemblymember Krell is a co-author of the "Medication Abortion Access" bill with Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), which will protect manufacturers, distributors, healthcare providers, and individuals from liability when legally transporting, distributing or administering medication abortion in California.
A second bill, authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda), will let the attorney general penalize local entities that interfere with abortion care.
"The fundamental right to reproductive healthcare is non-negotiable in California. No individual should face barriers to accessing care due to the deliberate actions of anyone,” said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda).
The "Attorney General Enforcement of the RPA" bill would give the attorney general the power to seek monetary penalties from government entities for violations.
Just last month, Bonta held Beverly Hills accountable for preventing a reproductive healthcare clinic from opening.
“By empowering the Attorney General to enforce the Reproductive Privacy Act,” Bauer-Kahan said, “This legislation ensures that our laws are more than words on paper—they are protections in practice. I’m proud to stand with Attorney General Bonta in defending the reproductive freedoms of every Californian.”
You can read the full press release from the Attorney General’s office here.
