If the U.S. Supreme Court grants states the authority to restrict abortion access, officials in California say they are ready to welcome abortion seekers from other states.
The court heard arguments on Dec. 1 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, in which the state of Mississippi asked the court to overturn Roe v. Wade, returning the power to regulate abortion law back to the states or to Congress. The case involves a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
If the court’s conservative majority agrees with Mississippi’s position, laws already passed in two dozen states to restrict or ban abortion will immediately go into effect.
Newsom: We’ll be a sanctuary
California is not one of those states, and the California Future of Abortion Council, a group started by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, wants the state to become an abortion “sanctuary.” The council, made up of more than 40 abortion providers and advocacy groups, on Dec. 8 issued a 15-page document that includes 45 policy recommendations. Those recommendations include providing funding to support abortion providers, as well as helping to pay for abortions, gas, lodging, transportation and other expenses of those traveling to California from other states to obtain an abortion.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Newsom said some of the report’s details will be included in his budget proposal in January.
“We’ll be a sanctuary,” Newsom told the AP. “We are looking at ways to support that inevitability and looking at ways to expand our protections.”
