SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Democratic legislative leaders, hoping to solidify the long-term right in California to abortions and contraceptives, will introduce a bill Wednesday asking voters to enshrine those protections in the state Constitution.
Senate Constitutional Amendment 10 by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, is the latest countermeasure from California Democrats to reports that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old landmark decision that bars states from criminalizing the procedure.
Atkins’ amendment would not expand California’s already progressive reproductive health care laws that ensure a woman’s right to abortion and birth control, including the rights of minors to access services without parental notification or consent. However, she said the relentless challenges to abortion access in other states made it clear to her that California’s case law and statutory laws may not be enough.
