In swift reaction to the United States Supreme Court’s decision last Friday to end federal protection for abortion through Roe v. Wade and Casey, and return the power to the states, the California state Assembly pushed through legislation Monday to place the issue before voters in November’s midterms.
The state Assembly on Monday voted 58-16 to approve Senate Constitutional Amendment 10, which would give Californians the “fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”
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On Monday, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, urged members to enshrine abortion rights in the California constitution, a move lawmakers think is necessary to ensure future leaders and courts cannot easily throw them out.
“Colleagues, I stand here today and appeal to your reason, your compassion and your sense of justice,” Rendon said. “I stand here to ask that all Californians have the opportunity to vote on this critical right, and to vote it into our constitution and to show once again that we speak with an independent voice.”
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The Senate approved the amendment on June 20. Both houses had to pass the bill by June 30 to make sure the measure appears on the November general election ballot.
One Republican lawmaker on the Assembly who voted against the measure was quoted by the Bee:
Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said he couldn’t support the amendment because of its lack of provisions for fetal rights. Gallagher said his wife experienced complications while she was pregnant with their twin sons, who were born prematurely.
“They were alive and they are a person,” Gallagher said. “They’re people. And our law has to begin to recognize that. That’s why I can’t support this constitutional amendment today — because of what’s missing from it. It says nothing about their rights.”
The Bee adds that the amendment to the Golden State constitution was not a sudden decision, with the plan announced in May by Rendon, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), after the Court’s draft opinion leaked.
As RedState reported earlier on Monday, Newsom will begin running political ads in the state of Florida in July — perhaps as a preview for the next presidential election.
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