California mobilizes to protect women and their abortion rights

California mobilizes to protect women and their abortion rights

California mobilizes to protect women and their abortion rights

Defend the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy and welcome all women who do not have access to it in their state: California on Tuesday voiced general mobilization after the revelation of a draft Supreme Court ruling returning to the feat .

“Our daughters, sisters, mothers and grandmothers will not be silenced,” tweeted California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. “The world is about to hear their fury. California will not sit idly by. We will fight like devils,” he promised, shortly after the publication of the document by the Politico site on Monday evening.

In the process, the governor and leaders of the parliaments of the most populous and richest US state announced “an amendment to include the right to choose in our state constitution”.

“We know that we cannot rely on the Supreme Court to protect reproductive rights, so California will set up a firewall around this right in our Constitution,” he writes.

Certainly, this amendment, which should be put to vote during the midterm elections next November, will inevitably have a symbolic significance, given many laws already guaranteeing abortion rights on California soil.

But that’s exactly what this announcement aims for: To all women living in states that have been quick to restrict or even ban abortions, know that Democratic stronghold California will continue to welcome them.

“We will not spare women and families affected by the regressive and irresponsible policies of other states,” interim California Senate President Tony Atkins promised in a press conference on Tuesday. That “California remains a beacon of hope” to them.

– one woman in four –

According to the Guttmacher Institute, if the Supreme Court is in a few weeks “Roe v. Wade of 1973” (according to which the U.S. Constitution guarantees women’s right to abortion as long as the fetus is “viable”), 26 U.S. states will be in their territory. Will decide “of course or probably” to prohibit abortion.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health concluded that nearly one in four women in the United States will miscarry before reaching the age of 45.

“It’s not going to stop abruptly because extremist politicians issue sanctions, this need will remain!” murmured Jody Hicks, president of the Planned Parenthood organization in California, which houses nearly half of the 165 abortion centers in this state. operates.

“It’s about dignity, people’s health and their trajectory in the future,” she refers to the case of destitute and vulnerable young women who will be forced to travel outside their state for abortions. ,

“We know very well that this type of ban disproportionately affects low-income people, people of color (…), we also know that those who want abortions and those who are denied They will end up in poverty four times more at risk than others,” says Ms. Hicks.

Planned Parenthood says it has treated at least 80 out-of-state patients every month in California since last September, when Texas dramatically tightened abortion requirements.

Its branch in Mar Monte, which covers Northern California and neighboring Nevada, is preparing to welcome an additional 250 to 500 patients per week if “Roe v. Wade” breaks down.

A new abortion center will be opened in Reno near the airport and other transportation hubs to facilitate the arrival of women from other states, Planned Parenthood says on its website.

California, which had distinguished itself from its fierce opposition to former President Donald Trump’s ultra-conservative policy, passed a 2014 law forcing employers and private insurance to include reimbursement for abortions in their health coverage. ,

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