Governor, state leaders promise to 'enshrine' abortion in constitution
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF/AP) — In response to the leaked draft of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade Monday, California legislators promised to provide voters a chance to add abortion protections to the state's constitution this fall.
California's governor and top legislative leaders committed late Monday to putting an amendment on the ballot this November that would "enshrine the right to choose" in California.
Their comments came hours after Politico published a draft opinion from the court that revealed a majority of the nine justices want to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that stopped state governments from banning abortion.
"We know we can't trust the Supreme Court to protect reproductive rights, so California will build a firewall around this right in our state constitution," Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins said in a joint statement. "Women will remain protected here."
Newsom's office said their goal is put the amendment on the ballot this November. Lawmakers will have to act quickly to make that happen. They have to vote on it before the end of June to give state officials enough time to print the ballots.
It takes a two-thirds vote to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. But that shouldn't be a problem in California. Democrats control so many seats they could muster the necessary votes without relying on Republicans.
