Newsom, Oregon and Washington governors commit to protecting reproductive health care
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF/BCN) – Gov. Gavin Newsom and the governors of Oregon and Washington on Friday issued a Multi-State Commitment promising to defend access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives.
The plan came with a statement condemning the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which rolled back the court's 1973 ruling that the Constitution broadly gives women the individual liberty to terminate a pregnancy.
"The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn half a century of settled precedent and rescind the U.S. Constitution's protection of reproductive freedom jeopardizes safe access to reproductive healthcare across the United States," Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in the signed statement.
The agreement issued by the three western states affirms the governors' commitment in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's unprecedented decision to strip away a constitutional right that has been in place for half a century, leaving abortion regulation to the states. The sweeping decision means that for patients in more than half the country, home to 33.6 million women, abortion care is illegal or inaccessible.
"The Supreme Court has made it clear – they want to strip women of their liberty and let Republican states replace it with mandated birth because the right to choose an abortion is not 'deeply rooted in history'. They want to turn back the clock to a time when women had no right to make decisions about their own bodies, when women had to seek care in the shadows and at great danger, when women were not treated as equal citizens under the law. This is another devastating step toward erasing the rights and liberties Americans have fought for on battlefields, in courthouses and in capitols. This is not the America we know – and it's not the California way," Newsom said in a statement. "California has banded together with Oregon and Washington to stand up for women, and to protect access to reproductive health care. We will not sit on the sidelines and allow patients who seek reproductive care in our states or the doctors that provide that care to be intimidated with criminal prosecution. We refuse to go back and we will fight like hell to protect our rights and our values."
In addition to defending access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, the states are committed to protecting patients and doctors against efforts by other states to export their abortion bans to our states.
Under the agreement, the states would also refuse to cooperate with states that have laws punishing either people seeking reproductive health care or doctors who provide reproductive care services like abortion.
A copy of the Multi-State Commitment to Reproductive Freedom can be found here.
Some states, including Texas and Louisiana, have already passed legislation or are considering doing so that would charge residents who induce or perform an abortion with a felony and up to life in prison - even if the procedure is not performed in their state of residence.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta affirmed his support for abortion access in the state and also committed to protecting those seeking reproductive health care.
"We'll keep fighting to strengthen and expand access to safe and legal abortion," Bonta said in a statement. "As attorney general, I will use the full force of the law and the full authority of my office to protect reproductive healthcare for every person who seeks it in California. Abortion remains a legally protected right in our state and, in California, we won't backslide."
