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Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice California Applauds Advancement of 2023 Sponsored Bills
Sacramento, CA — Over the last two weeks, Democrats in the California State Senate and Assembly advanced NARAL Pro-Choice California’s 2023 sponsored bills. These bills would enact protections for providers, LGBTQ+ families, medication abortion, and more. While SB 345, AB 571, and AB 576 fully passed the legislature and now head to the Governor’s desk for signature, the Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced SB 729 as a two-year bill which can be heard as early as January 2024.
NARAL Pro-Choice California Director Shannon Olivieri Hovis released the following statement in response:
“With the advancement of these bills, California continues to define what it means to be a Reproductive Freedom State—creating a bold blueprint for the country. While we still have work to do, NARAL Pro-Choice California is thrilled by the advancement of our 2023 sponsored bills. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Governor and our champions in the legislature to get these bills signed into law.”
Additional background on NARAL Pro-Choice California’s 2023 sponsored bills:
Senate Bill 345, authored by Senator Nancy Skinner, provides additional protections to providers who prescribe or dispense medication abortion, provide other reproductive health care services, or provide gender-affirming care to patients, regardless of where the patient is located. Additionally, it would expand California’s reproductive freedom state protections by prohibiting bail agents or private bounty hunters from capturing people in CA after they have fled their home state to avoid criminalization of abortion or gender-affirming care.
Senate Bill 729, authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar, requires large group 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.
Assembly Bill 571, authored by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, increases the number of licensed health care providers who are able to provide abortion and gender-affirming care in California by ensuring providers in the state have access to professional liability insurance without facing discrimination based on being a provider of these services.
Assembly Bill 576, authored by Assemblymember Akilah Weber, expands access to medication abortion by aligning Medi-Cal coverage with up-to-date clinical guidelines and peer-reviewed scientific evidence.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
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