Pro-abortion politicians in California are striking a defiant tone in the wake of Donald Trump’s election to become the next President of the United States, vowing to fight any pro-life reforms he and the Republican Congress may enact.
“President-elect Trump’s statements and policies threaten to restrict our freedoms, cut off our healthcare, affect our economy and the pocketbooks of working families, and drag us back to an era of back alley abortions,” California Legislative Women’s Caucus Chair, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) declared. “While our abortion rights will remain protected here in California due to the strength of our state laws and Constitution, we will remain vigilant in speaking out against any Supreme Court nominee who will overturn our hard-fought American freedoms and impact the economic security of working families.”
As Live Action News has covered, Trump campaigned on a series of pro-life pledges, including overturning Roe v. Wade through originalist Supreme Court nominees, defunding the abortion industry, signing the 20-week abortion ban into law, and restoring tax-exempt churches’ right to engage in political speech and activity. He reiterated his promise of pro-life judges after the election.
NARAL and Americans United for Life agree that California is one of the most pro-abortion states in the country, meaning abortion is all but certain to remain legal, largely-unregulated, and taxpayer-funded in the state long after a possible overturn of Roe. However, if and when that happens, the national debate could refocus on a federal abortion ban, whether through an act of Congress or a constitutional amendment. In the wake of the 2016 elections, Republicans are one state legislature shy of the 34 required to amend the Constitution.
The organization’s vice-chair, Democrat state Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, added, “We will vigorously uphold our long-held commitment to ensuring all women retain control over their bodies, healthcare and livelihoods,” and raised the possibility of the Trump administration cutting federal funding for cancer screenings and birth control.
Trump has endorsed permanent bans on taxpayer funding for both abortion and Planned Parenthood, but cancer screenings are a red herring, as Planned Parenthood performs less than two percent of women’s cancer screenings in the United States, and does not perform any mammograms, despite falsely claiming to in the past:
Planned Parenthood has approximately 650 facilities in the United States. Defunding them would not hurt women, as all of Planned Parenthood’s non-abortion services, as well as mammograms, can be accessed at the country’s 13,000+ Federally Qualified Health Centers and Community Health Centers.
