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California voters will decide this November whether to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution after lawmakers voted on Monday to place an amendment on the ballot.
The amendment, SCA 10, which protects a person’s right to have an abortion and the right to choose or refuse contraceptives, was passed by the California State Assembly in a 58-17 vote with five members abstaining.
WEST COAST GOVERNORS ANNOUNCE ABORTION ‘SAFE HAVEN’ PACT
“California will not back down from the fight to protect abortion rights as more than half the states in this country, enabled by the Supreme Court, ban or severely restrict access,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “We are ensuring Californians will have the opportunity this November to enshrine the right to choose in our state constitution.”
The proposed amendment is based on the right to privacy in the state constitution and would prohibit California from “denying or interfering with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives” if passed in November, according to its text.
The measure comes after the Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion, overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the question of access to the procedure to state legislatures.
California has announced a slate of initiatives to countervail the Supreme Court’s decision, including declaring itself a sanctuary state for those seeking an abortion. Newsom also signed legislation protecting patients and providers from civil liability for providing, aiding, or receiving abortion care in the state.
California will join Oregon and Washington state in a new multistate commitment to protect access to reproductive care as Republican-led states enact laws banning abortion outright.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A similar constitutional amendment will also appear on ballots in Vermont this November, though that bill does not explicitly use the word “abortion,” instead using “personal reproductive autonomy.”
