Formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America
The California constitution and state law currently protect abortion, contraception, and more, but there's more work to do. In 2025 we scored the following state bills that protect and expand access to reproductive freedom.
Key Takeaways
In 2025, we championed a bold agenda to strengthen access to abortion care, gender-affirming care, contraception, and comprehensive reproductive health care for Californians. We also passed Prop 50, giving us the chance to elect more reproductive freedom champions to the U.S. House next year. Eleven of our supported bills advancing reproductive freedom were signed into law by Governor Newsom.
*Indicates a CA Future of Abortion Council Bill. The FAB Council is comprised of reproductive freedom and sexual and reproductive health care allies, partners, and leaders working in collaboration with policy makers, researchers, advocates, providers, patients, and key constituents to determine potential challenges to accessing abortion care in the state and recommend solutions that will continue to provide access and stability for both Californians and those who may seek services here from out of state.
Converted into 2-year bill Abortion Mifepristone
Creates additional protections for medication abortion in California, including protections for manufacturers, distributors, authorized health care providers and individuals from civil, criminal or professional liability in connection with the transportation, distribution or administration of medication abortion.
Status: Converted into 2-year bill
Signed Into Law Abortion Mifepristone Shield Law
Ensures the legality and availability of mifepristone in California and defends providers, facilities, and patients from lawsuits and subsequent enforcement efforts from states hostile to abortion. This bill also allows pharmacists to dispense mifepristone without the name of the prescriber or pharmacy included on the prescription label.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 26, 2025
Held (Dead) Emergency Abortion
Establishes the Reproductive Health Emergency Preparedness Program (RHEPP) to expand access to treatment for pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and abortion care at Emergency Departments across California.
Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations committee on May 23, 2025 and dead
Amended/Refocused Emergency Abortion
Clarifies that abortion care is an emergency service, ensuring that no one in California is turned away from care when they need it most.
Status: Focus of bill became redistricting in August 2025
Signed Into Law Abortion Data Privacy Shield Law
Protects health data privacy by prohibiting geofencing around healthcare providers and shielding medical research records from out-of-state subpoenas that interfere with abortion rights.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 26, 2025
Signed Into Law Birth Control Reproductive Health
Advances health equity by removing barriers for Medi-Cal recipients to access over-the-counter birth control.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 26, 2025
Signed Into Law Reproductive Health
Tackles the worrying trend of California’s birth centers closing by addressing overly burdensome and extraneous licensure requirements that don’t improve safety.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 11, 2025
Converted into 2-year bill Paid Family Leave Reproductive Rights
Grants school employees up to 14 weeks of leave with full pay, paid for by the employer, when an employee is experiencing or has experienced pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from those conditions.
Status: Converted into 2-year bill
Held (Dead) Shield Law
Grants the Attorney General authority to enforce penalties against local governments that obstruct reproductive healthcare, ensuring statewide accountability and access.
Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations committee on May 23, 2025 and dead
Signed Into Law Abortion Data Privacy Gender Affirming Care Mifepristone
Protects the privacy of sensitive medical data related to both abortion care and gender-affirming care by prohibiting the reporting of testosterone and mifepristone to the state’s prescription drug database. The bill also includes provisions that extend existing protections for abortion providers–like the landmark Safe at Home Program–to gender-affirming care providers.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 13, 2025
Signed Into Law IVF Reproductive Health
Extends the coverage for fertility services in large group plans achieved in SB 729, a Repro for All CA sponsored bill that became law in 2024, to small group plans and individual plans.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 13, 2025
Amended/Refocused Emergency Abortion
Protects those seeking emergency reproductive healthcare by increasing civil penalties for hospitals that fail to provide life-saving care in emergencies.
Status: Focus of bill became insurance in February 2025
Signed Into Law Maternal Health Reproductive Health
Aims to improve Californian’s access to reproductive health care providers (midwives) by instructing the state to conduct a landscape analysis on the state of midwifery care; evaluating opportunities to diversify the midwife pipeline, assessing barriers to educational pathways, and identifying potential solutions to expand the number of programs preparing high-quality, culturally responsive maternal healthcare providers.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 11, 2025
Held (Dead) Abortion
Creates an awareness campaign to publicize the internet website “abortion.ca.gov” to the general public, health care providers, health care professional associations and societies, health care employers, and local public health officers and health departments.
Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations committee on May 23, 2025 and dead
Held (Dead) Maternal Health Reproductive Health
Enhances access to maternity care services by mandating that the Department of Health Care Services, Department of Managed Health Care, and Department of Insurance develop and adopt time or distance accessibility standards for hospitals with perinatal (labor and delivery) units. These standards aim to ensure timely access to labor and delivery services, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations committee on August 29, 2025 and dead
Signed Into Law IVF
Extends the coverage for fertility services in large group plans achieved in SB 729, a Repro for All CA sponsored bill that became law in 2024, to small group plans and individual plans.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 13, 2025
Signed Into Law Maternal Health
Expands access to maternal and infant health care by establishing the California Nurse-Midwifery Education Fund to support a new master’s program in nurse-midwifery in the state.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 11, 2025
Signed Into Law Paid Family Leave
Makes the California Workplace Outreach Program (CWOP) permanent, and expands it to include information about paid family leave (PFL), paid sick and safe days, disability leave, and other forms of paid leave.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 13, 2025
Signed Into Law Paid Family Leave
Updates California’s Paid Family Leave program so that California workers can receive Paid Family Leave when caring for a member of their chosen or extended family.
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 13, 2025
Converted into 2-year bill Birth Control
Makes free condoms available in public high schools, ensures condoms can be distributed as part of on-campus sex education programs, and prohibits retailers from asking for IDs for condom purchases.
Status: Converted into 2-year bill
No entries matching your filters found. Reset your filters.
We successfully lead the fight to pass reproductive freedom policy at the state level.
Press Release California
Press Release California
It's going to take all of us to win back our freedom. Add your name today to commit to fighting for reproductive freedom.
We're pulling out all the stops to ensure voters get out and vote for reproductive freedom candidates up and down the ballot, and we need your help to make it happen!
