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Press Release
Reproductive Freedom for All California Celebrates Major Legislative Wins Expanding Access to Care, Urges Governor Newsom to Sign Into Law
For Immediate Release: Friday, September 4th, 2026
Media Contact: [email protected]
Reproductive Freedom for All California Celebrates Major Legislative Wins Expanding Access to Care, Urges Governor Newsom to Sign Into Law
Sacramento, CA — Reproductive Freedom for All California celebrates the recent passage of a slate of key reproductive freedom bills now headed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. The measures would strengthen protections for patients and providers, expand access to reproductive health care, and further cement California’s role as a national leader in protecting reproductive freedom.
Reproductive Freedom for All Director of State Campaigns Pavitra Abraham released the following statement:
“These legislative victories demonstrate what is possible when elected leaders act boldly to protect our fundamental freedoms. As Donald Trump and his allies escalate their attacks on reproductive health care—and states with extreme abortion bans target California’s patients and providers—California must continue to lead. We urge Governor Newsom to sign every one of these critical bills and ensure California remains a place where patients can get the care they need and providers can deliver that care without fear.”
The bills awaiting the Governor’s signature include:
- AB 1973 (Aguiar-Curry) Access to Abortion Providers – Removes restrictions in existing law to expand the ability of advanced practice clinicians (APCs) to provide abortion care.
- AB 2540 (Stefani) The Community College Student Right to Access Act – Seeks to address gaps in access to medication abortion care among California college students and ensure that, no matter which school a student chooses to attend, they are guaranteed access to care.
- AB 2164 (Bauer-Kahan) Care Without Fear Act – Prevents California’s Governor from recognizing or fulfilling requests from other states to extradite individuals facing criminal liability for providing, receiving, or assisting with legally protected health care.
- AB 1542 (Ward) Protecting Sensitive Personal Data – Closes a loophole in the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) by banning businesses from selling or sharing sensitive personal information–including reproductive health information–with a third party.
- AB 1696 (Stefani) Emergency Services and Care: Nurse-Midwives – Strengthens the reproductive health care workforce at a moment when access to skilled, timely care is under threat nationwide. Specifically, this bill clarifies that nurse-midwives can deliver emergency care to the full extent of their training and licensure.
- AB 1784 (Pellerin) Protecting Pregnant and Parenting Students – Provides appropriate protections for pregnant undergraduate students akin to those offered to graduate students at public institutions in California.
- AB 1854 (Krell) Legally Protected Health Care Activities – Seeks to clarify and expand California’s shield laws to protect patients, health care providers, and others involved in reproductive health care and gender-affirming care that is legal in California.
- AB 1876 (Addis) Health Care Coverage: Non-Discrimination – Prohibits discrimination in healthcare coverage by California health plans and insurers on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, defining sex to include “sex characteristics,” which covers pregnancy, intersex traits, and gender identity.
- AB 1930 (Zbur) Protecting Patient Privacy and Access to Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Care – Strengthens California shield laws by adding provisions to the Civil Code requiring business entities in California to notify the Office of the Attorney General if they intend to respond to a subpoena or inquiry regarding legally protected health care activity and would authorize the Attorney General to prevent disclosure.
- AB 2066 (Rodriguez) Maternal Health – Establishes pregnancy as a triggering event for the purposes of enrolling in or changing an individual’s health plan during a special enrollment period.
- AB 2448 (Berman & Bauer-Kahan) Medical Information: Confidentiality – Requires electronic health record (EHR) vendors to develop the technical capability to protect medical information related to abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care. The bill also makes clear that vendors must enable this capability for their customers so that patient records are protected against unauthorized disclosures.
- AB 2531 (Irwin) Abortion Care for Veterans – Responds to federal action in December 2025 that eliminated access to abortion care for veterans through the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system by creating a pathway for California veterans and active-duty military members to obtain abortion care in the state.
- SB 608 (Menjivar) Sexual Health – Addresses the sexually transmitted infection (STI) epidemic among California youth and improves public health outcomes by expanding access to condoms in schools and communities, and empowering the California Department of Education to monitor compliance with the California Healthy Youth Act.
For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly 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 4.5 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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