Governor Gavin Newsom says California will take extra steps to ensure it is a safe haven for people seeking abortions from out-of-state following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“I want people to know all around the rest of the country and many parts of the globe, that I hope we’re your antidote to your fear, your anxiety,” Newsom said at a news conference on Friday in Sacramento.

During his remarks, the governor signed Assembly Bill 1666, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1666 which is intended to shield patients and providers who have or assist with an abortion in California from being sued in other states with abortion bans.

“The measure comes as lawmakers in Missouri advance a proposal to allow private citizens to sue Missouri residents who have an abortion out of state, as well as their providers and anyone who assists them in seeking an abortion,” Newsom’s office explained in a news release.

Newsom's remarks begin at 32:50

Also on Friday, Newsom said California will provide health care clinics with tens of millions of dollars in grants that can be used to support people who come to the state seeking an abortion. The grants would be part of the governor’s proposed $125 million Reproductive Health Package, an effort to expand abortion access and help prepare for the influx of people seeking reproductive health care from other states.

The governor warned the overturning of Roe won’t be the last rollback on people’s rights. He predicted the conservative majority on the Supreme Court and Republican lawmakers will target same-sex marriage next.

“They’re coming after you next. Period. Full stop,” said Newsom, who in 2004 as then-mayor of San Francisco directed his city to issue same-sex marriage licenses a decade before the Supreme Court recognized that right.

“This is not just about women. This is not just about choice. This is not just about reproductive freedom,” the governor added on Friday.

Assembly Bill No. 1666
CHAPTER 42

An act to add Section 123467.5 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to abortion, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

[ Approved by Governor June 24, 2022. Filed with Secretary of State June 24, 2022. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1666, Bauer-Kahan. Abortion: civil actions.
Existing law provides that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to their personal reproductive decisions. Existing law prohibits the state from denying or interfering with the right to choose or obtain an abortion before the fetus is viable, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. Existing law requires an abortion to be performed by a specified licensed or certified health care provider and prohibits an abortion from being performed on a viable fetus if continuation of the pregnancy did not pose a risk to the life or health of the pregnant person.

The United States Constitution generally requires a state to give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. Existing law sets forth procedures by which a person may enforce a judgment for the payment of money issued by the court of a state other than California.

This bill would declare another state’s law authorizing a civil action against a person or entity that receives or seeks, performs or induces, or aids or abets the performance of an abortion, or who attempts or intends to engage in those actions, to be contrary to the public policy of this state. The bill would prohibit the application of that law to a case or controversy heard in state court, and would prohibit the enforcement or satisfaction of a civil judgment received under that law. The bill would declare these provisions to be severable.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 123467.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

123467.5. (a) A law of another state that authorizes a person to bring a civil action against a person or entity that does any of the following is contrary to the public policy of this state:
(1) Receives or seeks an abortion.
(2) Performs or induces an abortion.
(3) Knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion.
(4) Attempts or intends to engage in the conduct described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive.
(b) The state shall not do either of the following:
(1) Apply a law described in subdivision (a) to a case or controversy heard in state court.
(2) Enforce or satisfy a civil judgment received through an adjudication under a law described in subdivision (a).
(c) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to protect the public from civil actions authorized under the law of another state that are contrary to the public policy of this state, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.

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