The U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe vs. Wade doesn’t change abortion services in California, which promises to become a save haven for women seeking reproductive rights.
“The Supreme Court has taken away our federal constitutional right to abortion, but I want to make it clear that abortion is and will remain legal in California,” stated Julian Serrano, Vice President of Advocacy and Equity at Planned Parenthood Pasadena & San Gabriel Valley in a press release.
California wants to codify that in its Constitution. The California State Assembly just approved SCA 10, a resolution that would let voters in November decide whether or not to add an amended to the state Constitution prohibiting the state from “denying or interfering with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions.”
While Texas and other states ban abortion in all instances, the Golden State wants to be an abortion sanctuary for women guaranteeing women’s reproductive rights, whether they live in the state or not, and whether they’re here legally or are undocumented.
A budget deal announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom sets aside funding to expand Medi-Cal (the state’s subsidized health insurance) for low-income, undocumented residents ages 26 to 49, starting on January 1, 2024. The state already provided this coverage for those up to age 25.
Medi-Cal coverage includes abortion services for undocumented women.
Meanwhile, a study by the UCLA School of Law’s Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy estimates that up to 16,100 more people will travel to California each year for abortion care from neighboring states that ban these services.
Women in Texas and Arizona – where there are competing laws that either completely ban the procedures or limit it to 15 weeks after a woman becomes pregnant – are heading south of the border seeking help to end their pregnancy with help from Mexican reproductive activists.
For five years members of Monterrey, Mexico-based organization Necesito Abortar have been accompanying U.S. women to this city 138 miles away from the U.S. border to their headquarters—a private home— where they can have a safe abortion.
Sandra Cardona, head of the group, has already seen an uptick for their aid.
The group used to help five U.S. women per month, but after Texas banned abortion as early as six weeks in October 2021, they saw their services shot up to five or seven women per week. Now they expect to triple that figure.
RESOURCES
ACCESS Reproductive Justice connects people to free and low-cost programs that pay for reproductive health care for people living in California, traveling to California, or traveling from California to receive an out-of-state abortion.
Abortion Finder is a database of hundreds of trusted and verified abortion providers in the United States
Plan C maintains a large database of verified abortion pill providers, including both telehealth services that provide support through the abortion process and online pharmacies that will mail you the pills with no additional support.
AidAccess will connect you with an Indian pharmacy that sends abortion pills to all 50 US states, regardless of abortion laws.
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