BILL NUMBER: SJR 19 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 6, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Jackson
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins and Cristina Garcia)
AUGUST 26, 2015
Relative to Planned Parenthood. women's
reproductive health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 19, as amended, Jackson. Planned Parenthood: funding.
Women's reproductive health.
This measure would request the President and the Congress of the
United States to express their support for access to comprehensive
reproductive health care , including the services provided
by Planned Parenthood and Parenthood, and to
oppose efforts to eliminate federal funding for Planned
Parenthood.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, January 22, 2016, marks the anniversary of the United
States Supreme Court's landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, which held
that every woman has a fundamental right to control her own
reproductive decisions and decide whether to end or continue a
pregnancy, and is an occasion that deserves recognition; and
WHEREAS, The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, making access to abortion
safe and legal, has greatly improved the health of women and
families; and
WHEREAS, Roe v. Wade has been the cornerstone of women's
remarkable strides toward equality in the past four decades, and
reproductive freedom is critical to a woman's ability to participate
fully in the social, political, and economic life of the community;
and
WHEREAS, California is committed to protecting the public health
and welfare of all its residents, and recognizes that access to
reproductive health services, including family planning and prenatal
care, supports individuals and their families by ensuring that babies
are planned, wanted, and healthy; and
WHEREAS, California recognizes the importance of
Planned Parenthood is as one of
California's largest providers of women's preventive and
reproductive health care and reproductive health care
services, operating 115 community-based health centers
across the state, which service over provide
more than 1.6 million patient visits a year; and
WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood provides comprehensive health care
services to men and women, including well-woman exams,
women and men, which may include well-woman
examinations, birth control, testing and treatment of sexually
transmitted infections and HIV, pregnancy tests, life-saving cancer
screenings, prenatal care, sex education,
prenatal care, primary care services in some
locations, services, and abortion services; and
WHEREAS, Nationwide, during 4.6 million health center visits in
2013, Planned Parenthood provided services, including nearly 400,000
Pap smear tests, nearly 500,000 breast
examinations, nearly 1.1 million pregnancy tests,
nearly 3.6 million provisions of birth control
information and services, and nearly 4.5 million
tests and treatments for sexually transmitted illnesses (including
HIV), to approximately 2.7 million patients, nearly
almost 80 percent of whom were living with
incomes at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level; and
WHEREAS, By providing millions of women with access to
contraceptive services, public funding of Planned Parenthood helps
women to avoid an estimated 516,000 unplanned pregnancies each year
nationwide; and
WHEREAS, A sudden defunding of Planned Parenthood's
publicly funded clinics health centers by
federal or state governments would put patients across California,
particularly members of underserved communities, at a significant
disadvantage relating to their general health care given
that because Planned Parenthood is often the
only source of health care services for so many Californians; and
WHEREAS, Violence against abortion providers and laws that create
barriers to abortion endanger the lives of both men and women; and
WHEREAS, Reports have found that threats of harassment,
intimidation, and violence against women's health clinics have
doubled since 2010, and as recently as November 27, 2015, a Planned
Parenthood clinic was the target of a heinous act of domestic
terrorism which resulted in the deaths of three people and nonfatal
injuries to nine others; and
WHEREAS, The State of California stands in strong
opposition to recent attacks on Planned Parenthood and other health
care providers that offer reproductive health care services;
support of Roe v. Wade and the work of Planned
Parenthood, and of women's reproductive health, and upholds each
woman's fundamental right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy;
now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President of the
United States and Congress to express their support for access to
comprehensive reproductive health care care,
including the services provided by Planned Parenthood and
a woman's fundamenta l right to control her own
reproductive decisions, and to strongly oppose efforts to
eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States,
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from
California in the Congress of the United States.