California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is set to propose new legislation that would allow Arizona abortion providers to become certified faster within California.
Newsom has said that the bill is necessary because of an 1864 anti-abortion statute that will soon be re-implemented in the Grand Canyon State, and the high likelihood that Arizonans will travel to California in the months afterward seeking abortion care. It’s also possible that abortion providers in Arizona may soon move to California, knowing that they could be criminally prosecuted in their current state.
The proposal, which Newsom first discussed during an MSNBC interview on Sunday, would expedite the process for abortion providers from Arizona to become providers in California. If the bill passes, the certification process could take as little as five to 10 days, Newsom said.
“I think really we need to start focusing on making the kind of progress that’s needed” relating to expanding access to abortion care, he went on.
Newsom will submit the bill, with the help of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, as an emergency measure. It is highly probable that the bill will pass, as Democrats have a majority in both houses in the state legislature and the legislature has passed dozens of laws protecting and expanding abortion since 2022.
Newsom’s formal announcement of the bill and its exact details will be made during a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for Newsom, provided a statement to Politico about why California is pursuing the bill:
“Arizona AG Kris Mayes identified a need to expedite the ability for Arizona abortion providers to continue to provide care to Arizonans as a way to support patients in their state seeking abortion care in California,” Richards said, adding that California lawmakers “are responding to this call.”
Arizona’s anti-abortion law makes exceptions only in cases when a pregnant person’s life is at risk. Even then, as evidenced in states with similar abortion restrictions, exceptions for emergencies are rarely allowed in practice, as providers are fearful their actions could still be viewed as illegal by the state.
The law first passed in 1864, nearly 50 years before Arizona became a state. It was last reaffirmed in 1913.
Earlier in April, the Arizona state Supreme Court said that the law was back in force due to the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, as the state had never passed an affirmative abortion law, only laws in response to federal abortion protections.
Arizona voters will likely get the opportunity to reaffirm abortion rights when they head to the polls in November, as a constitutional initiative measure is set to be included on the ballot. The amendment would restore abortion access up to the point of fetal viability, generally regarded as around 22-25 weeks of pregnancy, and would allow abortions after that point in cases of rape or incest, when necessary to save the life of a pregnant person, or to protect a pregnant person’s physical or mental health, based on the “good faith judgment” of their care providers.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy