California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the introduction of two new abortion-related bills in a press release in December, one of which would protect California abortionists. According to that press release, Planned Parenthood is a co-sponsor of the Medication Abortion Access bill, which serves to protect its own interests.
Induced abortion — the direct and intentional act of killing a preborn child — is a protected “right” in California. Yet, pro-abortion political allies in California are concerned that despite the extreme pro-abortion laws in the state, women still might not be able to access abortion.
As previously reported by Live Action News, the Medication Abortion Access bill, “joint authored by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento) and Majority Leader Cecilia Aguilar-Curry (D-Winters), will ensure that Californians continue to have access to abortion care, including medication abortion, and will shield manufacturers, distributors, authorized healthcare providers, and individuals from any civil, criminal, or professional liability when legally transporting, distributing, or administering medication abortion in California” (emphasis added).
Krell is a former Planned Parenthood attorney and said the bill is meant to protect abortion pill supply chains, which would include Planned Parenthood, the companies that make the abortion pill, and any individuals who sell the abortion pill to women — even over the internet.
Planned Parenthood is openly taking credit for helping to sponsor the bill that serves its own financial interests at the expense of women and children.
CEO and President of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Jodi Hicks, is featured in the press release. She states (emphasis added):
For two decades, anti-abortion extremists have targeted Mifepristone and sought to interfere and inhibit people’s access to this safe and effective drug, even in states like California where abortion is legal. We know the incoming Trump administration and anti-abortion majority in Congress threaten pregnant people’s access to medication abortion and we must preserve and protect its availability in California.
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California is proud to co-sponsor this legislation with Attorney General Bonta and Assemblymember Krell to protect access to medication abortion and the ability of providers like us to provide patients with the care they need and deserve.
As we prepare for the challenges ahead, PPAC is committed to working alongside our state, legislative, and organizational partners to fiercely defend reproductive freedom in California, including the right of all patients to access their preferred care, when and where they need it.
California is moving toward the very real possibility that even if an abortionist in the state were to send the abortion pill to a woman without providing her with an exam or follow-up care, and that woman suffered severe complications or even death, that abortionist would be protected from any legal action against him or her taken by the woman, the woman’s family, or law enforcement.
This is further proof that Planned Parenthood’s claim to care deeply about women rings hollow. It would put its own financial interests above ensuring that women are protected from any dangerous complications associated with the abortion pill.
“With Prop 1, we enshrined the right to abortion in California’s constitution. But this right is meaningless if it can’t be safely accessed,” said Krell (D-Sacramento). “This law ensures that women in California will have access to medication abortion, even in an uncertain federal environment.” Access? Yes. Safety and accountability required of the abortion industry? No.
