California will propose amending its constitution to permanently protect the right to abortion

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California will propose to amend the state constitution to permanently protect the right to abortion

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This Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins; and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced the proposed amendment to establish permanent protection of abortion in the California constitution

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NEW: We are proposing an amendment to enshrine the right to choose in the California constitution.

We can’t trust SCOTUS to protect the right to abortion, so we’ll do it ourselves.

Women will remain protected here. https://t.co/WTUpfymLS0

—Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 3, 2022

The proposal arises from the news that the Supreme Court could move to a vote that would annul the decision around the historic Roe vs. Wade case of 1973 , which allows abortion.

“California proposes an amendment to enshrine the right to choose in our state constitution so that there are no doubts about the right to abortion in this state “, says the statement.

“We know that we cannot trust the Supreme Court to protect reproductive rights, so California will build a firewall around this right in our state constitution,” the document added.

The amendment proposal amendment to the constitution will be presented to California voters in November. In order for it to be included on the electoral ballot, one more vote of the absolute majority in both legislative chambers of the state is required.

Governor Newsom reacted harshly to the news about the possible decision in the Supreme Court.

“I am furious that my own children can grow up in a United States that is less free than the one they were born with. We have to wake up, we have to fight like hell. We will not be silenced,” Newsom said.

The Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles will consider supporting a pilot program that would make the county a “safe haven” for abortion. The county would offer services to patients regardless of where they live, and even if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

This motion was already considered in the agenda of the meeting and the board for this Tuesday, even before an apparent draft on the possible determination of the Supreme Court was published this Monday.

Said draft suggests that the conservative majority of the judges could almost annul 50 years of established precedent on the right to abortion.

The document, published by Politico and obtained from a “person familiar with court procedures”, is indicated as a first draft and is dated 10 February 2022, two months after oral arguments were heard in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.

This leak is an extraordinary violation of the protocol and tradition of the Supreme Court. Never before has such an important draft opinion been leaked before publication.

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