California State Legislative Bills Scored in 2023
Senate Bill 36
Strengthens safe haven protections for abortion and gender-affirming care by prohibiting bail agents or bounty hunters from apprehending people in California.
Authored by Senator Nancy Skinner (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Sponsored | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Content of bill absorbed into SB 345
Senate Bill 59
Ensures equitable access to period products across California by requiring free period products in state owned or leased buildings, buildings where a state funded safety net program is administered, and hospitals that receive state funding.
Authored by Senator Nancy Skinner (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Held in Committee on May 18, 2023
Senate Bill 60
Expands CalWORKs services to include $20 of monthly cash assistance for the purchasing of menstrual products, helping to mitigate California’s period poverty by providing low-income people who are recipients of CalWORKs with the necessary materials to support their menstrual cycles.
Authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Held in Asm. Appropriations Committee on September 1, 2023 and dead
Senate Bill 345
Provides additional protections for providers of abortion and gender-affirming care – regardless of where the patient is located – and strengthens safe haven protections by making it illegal for bail agents and private bounty hunters to apprehend people in California who have fled their home state to avoid criminalization of abortion or gender-affirming care.
Authored by Senator Nancy Skinner (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Sponsored | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 27, 2023
Senate Bill 385
Extends many of the updated training rules for nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives to provide first trimester abortion care (from SB 1375 last year) to physician assistants.
Authored by Senate Pro tem Toni Atkins (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 8, 2023
Senate Bill 487
Provides additional safeguards for California abortion providers and other entities and individuals that serve and support abortion patients that reside in states with hostile abortion laws.
Authored by Senate Pro tem Toni Atkins (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 27, 2023
Senate Bill 541
Seeks to address the sexually transmitted infection (STI) epidemic among California youth and improve equitable public health outcomes statewide by expanding teen access to condoms and the HPV vaccine.
Authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Vetoed by Governor Newsom on October 8, 2023
Senate Bill 667
Makes clarifying changes to ensure that certified nurse-midwives can practice to their full scope.
Authored by Senator Bill Dodd (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 8, 2023
Senate Bill 729
Requires health plans to provide coverage for fertility care, including treatment for infertility and in vitro fertilization (IVF), and ensures that LGBTQ+ couples are not unfairly excluded from coverage.
Authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Sponsored)
Status: Became a 2-year bill on September 1, 2023
Senate Bill 774 (Opposed)
Severely limit the authority of California’s Attorney General to protect access to and affordability of hospital services provided by most hospitals in California.
Authored by Senator Brian Jones and Senator Shannon Grove (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Opposed)
Status: Became a 2-year bill on April 19, 2023
Senate Bill 848
Specifies that people who have experienced some form of pregnancy or fertility loss may access up to 5 days of job-protected, unpaid leave.
Authored by Senator Susan Rubio (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 10, 2023
Assembly Bill 47
Requires a health care service plan contract or health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2024, to provide coverage for pelvic floor physical therapy after pregnancy.
Authored by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Became a 2-year bill on April 21, 2023
Assembly Bill 90
Improves access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) for those seeking abortion services.
Authored by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Change was made by the State Department of Health Care Services, so the bill author decided not to advance the bill on June 6, 2023
Assembly Bill 230
Expands on the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021 by requiring public schools serving third through fifth grades to adequately stock restrooms with menstrual products.
Authored by Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 8, 2023
Assembly Bill 254
Provides privacy protections for digital data related to patients accessing abortion services in California.
Authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 27, 2023
Assembly Bill 352
Enhances privacy protections for medical records related to abortion, pregnancy loss, and other sensitive services through electronic health record sharing and health information exchanges.
Authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 27, 2023
Assembly Bill 518
Updates the definition of “family member” for purposes of California’s Paid Family Leave Program (PFL) so that qualifying California workers will be able to receive PFL wage replacement benefits to care for a member of their chosen or extended family.
Authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Reproductive Freedom for All- Supported)
Status: Became a 2-year bill on September 13, 2024
Assembly Bill 571
Increases the number of licensed healthcare providers who are able to provide abortion and gender-affirming care in California by ensuring that licensed medical providers have access to professional liability insurance coverage without discrimination for providing abortion care, contraception, and gender-affirming care.
Authored by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris AB 571 (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Sponsored)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 27, 2023
Assembly Bill 575
Removes unnecessary barriers for individuals seeking to access their paid family benefits by making several commonsense improvements to California’s Paid Family Leave program.
Authored by Assemblymember Diane Papan (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Vetoed by Governor Newsom on October 8th, 2023
Assembly Bill 576
Expands access to medication abortion by aligning Medi-Cal coverage of medication abortion with evidence-based clinical guidelines.
Authored by Assemblymember Akilah Weber (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Sponsored)
Status: Vetoed by Governor Newsom on October 7, 2023; achieved in part by a change at the Department of Health Care Services
Assembly Bill 583
Establishes the Birthing Justice for California Families Pilot Project, which would include a 3-year grant program administered by the State Department of Public Health to provide grants to community-based doula groups to provide full-spectrum doula care to pregnant and birthing people who are low income and do not qualify for Medi-Cal or who are from communities that experience high rates of negative birth outcomes, among others.
Authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Held in the Asm. Appropriations committee on May 18, 2023 and dead
Assembly Bill 598
Requires school districts to participate in the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) and include a module on sexual and reproductive health care as one of the core survey modules.
Authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Became a 2-year bill on July 5, 2023
Assembly Bill 608
Provides Medi-Cal’s Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program (CPSP) benefit throughout the 12-month postpartum eligibility period instead of just the initial 60-day period and reimburses for the services of Comprehensive Perinatal Health Workers (CPHWs) when provided in the community instead of just at a medical facility.
Authored by Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Vetoed by Governor Newsom on October 7, 2023
Assembly Bill 710
Establishes an education campaign to provide pregnant people with accurate information regarding access to abortion care at fake clinics, sometimes called crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), and to combat the deceitful and harmful practices of CPCs.
Authored by Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo (Reproductive Freedom for All-Championed | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Held in the Asm. Appropriations committee on May 18, 2023 and dead
Assembly Bill 793
Supports safe access to reproductive and gender-affirming care in the digital age by protecting people from unconstitutional searches of their data.
Authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta
(Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Became a 2-year bill on June 30, 2023
Assembly Bill 904
Requires a health care service plan or health insurer, on or before January 1, 2025, to develop a maternal and infant health equity program that addresses racial health disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes through the use of doulas.
Authored by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 7, 2023
Assembly Bill 1091
Protects comprehensive reproductive and LGBTQ-inclusive healthcare access in all regions of the state by strengthening and expanding the oversight of the California Attorney General over new health care mergers and acquisitions.
Authored by Assemblymember Jim Wood (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Championed)
Status: Became a 2-year bill on April 28, 2023
Assembly Bill 1094
Requires that a pregnant or perinatal person provide written and verbal consent prior to the administration of a drug test, alcohol test, or screen to either them or their baby. Additionally, it would require the test or screen to be medically necessary to provide care
Authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (Reproductive Freedom for All- Supported)
Status: Became a 2-year bill on April 28, 2023
Assembly Bill 1194
Ensures that businesses can’t use exemptions under the Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) to share information about “a consumer accessing, procuring, or searching for services regarding contraception, pregnancy care, and perinatal care, including, but not limited to, abortion services.”
Authored by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 8, 2023
Assembly Bill 1432
Requires every health insurance policy or certificate that is issued or delivered to a resident of California to comply with California laws that require coverage of abortion services and gender-affirming care.
Authored by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Vetoed by Governor Newsom on October 7, 2023
Assembly Bill 1481
Clarifies Presumptive Eligibility for Pregnant Individuals (currently called PE4PW) coverage policies and ensures PE4PW patients can access abortion services regardless of other health coverage.
Authored by Assemblymember Boerner (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 7, 2023
Assembly Bill 1646
Expands access to abortion by facilitating guest rotations in medical residency programs in California, allowing out-of-state medical school graduates to practice in California for up to 90 days.
Authored by Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 27, 2023
Assembly Bill 1707
Builds on existing law to protect reproductive health care providers from adverse actions based on another states’ hostile law.
Authored by Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco (Reproductive Freedom for All California – Supported | CA Future of Abortion Council bill)
Status: Signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 27, 2023