In the wake of new revelations detailing how the United States Supreme Court’s conservative bloc majority Will attempt to repeal abortion protections that were recognized in the 1973 landmark ruling Roe v. WadeCalifornia Democratic legislators have announced that they will not only strengthen abortion rights in state statutes, but also enumerate them in the state constitution.
In a joint statement releasedAfter a leaked draft document by Justice Samuel Alito was made available to the public Monday night, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), state Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego) and state Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) said that “California will not stand idly by as women across America are stripped of their rights and the progress so many have fought for gets erased.”
“California is proposing an amendment to enshrine the right to choose in our state constitution so that there is no doubt as to the right to abortion in this state,” the trio added in their statement.
Saying that they couldn’t “trust the Supreme Court to protect reproductive rights,” the statement from the three lawmakers also promised to “build a firewall around this right” for residents in the state.
NEW: We propose an amending the California constitution to guarantee the right of choice.
We can’t trust SCOTUS to protect the right to abortion, so we’ll do it ourselves.
Here, women will be protected. https://t.co/WTUpfymLS0
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 3, 2022
In a separate statement he made on his own, Newsom called the draft document from Alito an “appalling attack” on abortion rights. He also warned that the attacks on personal freedoms wouldn’t stop with abortion.
Conservatives on the Supreme Court “are undermining progress, and erasing the civil protections and rights so many have fought for over the last half century,” Newsom said, adding:
I’m furious that my own daughters and sons could grow up in an America that is less free than the one they were born into.
California lawmakers, including Newsom, They have pledged to intensify efforts to make abortion availableNot only for residents of the state, but also for anyone in the U.S. who wants to have an abortion. Roe be overturned by the nation’s highest court. These assurances were made in December, after oral arguments were heard by the Supreme Court. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’’’s HealthThe case that is about to be thrown into chaos Roe.
Democrats in California are seeking to make the state a “sanctuary” for abortion, and have even proposed covering traveling and lodging costs for individuals who come from out of state for abortion services, if Roe It has been overturned.
California intends to make ending or curtailing the human rights to abortion more difficult by enumerating the right of an abortion in its state constitution.
California’s constitution can be amended in a number of ways. First, the amendment can be proposed by the state legislature, and then it must be approved in both houses by a two thirds majority. Subsequently, a majority of the state’s voters must also vote in favor of the amendment to the State Constitution in an election.
California residents could also propose constitutional changes to be voted on via a ballot initiative. If petitioners gather enough signatures – equaling 8 percent or more of the total number of votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election – the measure gets on the ballot for voters to decide on in the next election.
Recent polling indicates that California voters would be open for both amending California’s constitution to make abortion a state-recognized right and making California a sanctuary place for abortion services. A Public Policy Institute of California poll from OctoberAccording to a study, 79 percent of Golden State voters did not want the opportunity to see. RoeOnly 20% said they had. California voters were also concerned that other states might make it harder to get an abortion. Only 30% of voters were worried that states were making it easier to get one.
