Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) unveiled legislation aimed at providing a temporary safe haven for Arizona doctors to continue to provide abortions as a restrictive abortion law is slated to be reinstated in the Grand Canyon State.
Senate Bill 233, which is co-sponsored by the leaders of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus in the state legislature, would allow licensed Arizona doctors in good standing to provide abortion-related service in California to Arizonans traveling to the Golden State. It comes weeks after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 state abortion law, which bans the procedure unless a mother faces immediate life-threatening conditions.
“Arizona Republicans continue to put women in danger — embracing a draconian law passed when Arizona was a territory, not even a state. California will not sit idly by,” Newsom said in a statement.
“We’re urgently moving legislation to allow Arizona doctors to provide safe and reliable reproductive care to Arizonans here in California,” he added.
The Arizona abortion providers will need to register with California’s Medical Board and Osteopathic Medical Board, who will oversee them. The legislation would allow this temporary safe haven through Nov. 30, and would take effect upon the governor’s signature.
Officials made clear at a press conference on Wednesday that provisions in the legislation, along with existing law, will protect the privacy of Arizona abortion providers who opted to travel to California to provide abortion services.
The measure comes after Arizona Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes said she was exploring her options to combat the looming 1864 abortion law, including having the Golden State be a safe haven for abortion providers.
Newsom confirmed that the state has has been in contact with Mayes and credited her with inspiring the framework of the legislation.
“She inspired this framework and she inspired this support, and we have been in contact. As it relates to the particularities — the peculiarities — of the legislation, we have not been working with her counsel in that respect, but certainly the spirit of what she was looking for,” Newsom said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Newsom and Democrats in the Golden State have championed abortion rights since the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — which returned abortion lawmaking to the states. Voters in the Golden State also decided to enshrine abortion until viability during the 2022 election.
During the press conference, Newsom called out Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who was the author of the majority decision for Dobbs, along with other male leaders for the avalanche of abortion laws since that decision.
“This is serious. One thing it all has in common is it’s guys like Alito — it’s men — determining the fate and future of women,” Newsom said.
“I don’t know how everything just doesn’t stop and we’re not out there saying enough. This would never happen if it was men, we know that. This is really sick, what’s happening in this country right now. And spare me this freedom gospel,” he added.
With supermajorities in both the state Senate and Assembly, the bill is likely to pass and be signed into law by Newsom.
Democratic state Sen. Nancy Skinner, chairwoman of the women’s caucus, said the bill shows the Golden State’s commitment to being a “safe haven” for abortion providers.
“With SB 233, the Legislative Women’s Caucus is taking our gloves off once again as we pursue every legislative action necessary to protect women’s reproductive rights, and especially our right to an abortion,” Skinner said in a statement. “SB 233 demonstrates California will remain a strong and safe haven for all doctors who seek to provide essential health care including abortions and for their patients who deserve this care.”
A ballot initiative enshrining abortion through viability looks likely to appear on the ballot in Arizona this November and could shape key races in the state — including for the Senate and the state’s 11 electoral votes.
Democratic state Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry says the legislation from the Golden State should serve as a stopgap until Arizonans can vote on enshrining abortion rights in November.
“We have passed legislation to expand, protect, and strengthen access to reproductive health care in our state, including access to safe abortions for all Californians, and refugees from other states seeking such care. Arizona’s courts, however, think Arizonans should live in 1864,” Aguiar-Curry said in a statement.
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“So, to Arizona people of child-bearing age, and those who love and support them, we have your back; At least until you get the chance to reverse this attack on your rights on the Arizona ballot this November,” she added.
Lawmakers in Arizona are set to attempt to overturn the 1864 abortion law for a third time in as many weeks on Wednesday. The Arizona attorney general’s office says the earliest the 1864 law will go into effect is June 8.