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Press Release
Reproductive Freedom for All Celebrates New California Laws Expanding Access to Reproductive Health Care
For Immediate Release: Thursday, October 1, 2026
Contact: [email protected]
Reproductive Freedom for All Celebrates New California Laws Expanding Access to Reproductive Health Care
Sacramento, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom signed a slate of bills expanding access to reproductive health care in California, including two co-sponsored by Reproductive Freedom for All: AB 1973, which allows advanced practice clinicians to provide abortion care within the full scope of their training, and AB 2540, which makes medication abortion available on community college campuses with existing health centers. Reproductive Freedom for All thanks Governor Newsom for signing both bills into law, which our members lobbied for throughout the legislative session.
Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“Thanks to the legislators who pushed for these bills, abortion care in California will be easier to reach for students, veterans, and patients across the state. Our 400,000 members helped make these new laws a reality – pushing from the first committee hearing all the way to the governor’s signature. There is still more to be done, and we will continue working to strengthen protections for abortion providers in California.”
The two bills Reproductive Freedom for All cosponsored were both signed by Governor Newsom:
- AB 1973 (Aguiar-Curry): Expands the ability of nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives, and physician assistants to provide abortion care within the full scope of their education, training and licensure.
- AB 2540 (Stefani): Makes medication abortion available on community college campuses, building on the law that brought it to UC and CSU campuses.
Governor Newsom also signed the following bills to protect reproductive freedom:
- AB 1696 (Stefani): Allows certified nurse-midwives to stabilize patients during emergencies or active labor without physician supervision.
- AB 1784 (Pellerin): Expands nondiscrimination protections and accommodations for pregnant and parenting students in California postsecondary institutions.
- AB 1876 (Addis): Prohibits discrimination in health care 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 1854 (Krell): Clarifies and expands California’s shield laws to protect patients, providers, and others involved in reproductive and gender-affirming care that is legal in California.
- AB 1930 (Zbur): Requires California entities to notify the attorney general before responding to subpoenas or inquiries about legally protected health care and allows the attorney general to intervene to block disclosure.
- AB 2134 (Addis): Allows city councilmembers across California to take parental leave, ensuring that public servants caring for and starting young families are not penalized for doing so.
- AB 2160 (Celeste Rodriguez): Streamlines lactation support billing within Medi-Cal, improving access to critical breastfeeding support for low-income families.
- AB 2448 (Berman & Bauer-Kahan): Requires electronic health record vendors to protect medical information related to abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care, and to enable those protections for their customers.
- AB 2531 (Irwin): Creates a pathway for California veterans to get no- or reduced-cost access to abortion and contraception care through a state program after the Trump administration largely ended abortion care through the VA.
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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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