SJR 19, as amended, Jackson. 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 to oppose efforts to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, January 22, 2016, marks the anniversary of the
2United States Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade,
3whichbegin delete heldend deletebegin insert acknowledgedend insert that every woman has a fundamental
4right to control her own reproductive decisions and decide whether
5to end or continue a pregnancy, and is an occasion that deserves
6recognition; and
7WHEREAS, The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, making access
8to abortion safe and legal, has greatly improved the health of
9women and families; and
10WHEREAS, Roe v. Wade has been the cornerstone of women’s
11remarkable strides toward equality in the past four decades, and
P2 1reproductive freedom is critical to a woman’s ability to participate
2fully in the social, political, and economic life of the community;
3and
4WHEREAS, California is committed to protecting the public
5health and welfare of all its residents, and recognizes that access
6to reproductive health services, including family planning and
7prenatal care, supports individuals and their families by ensuring
8that babies are planned, wanted, and healthy; and
9WHEREAS, California recognizes the importance of Planned
10Parenthood as one of California’s largest providers of women’s
11preventive and reproductive health care services, operating 115
12community-based health centers across the state, which provide
13more than 1.6 million patient visits a year; and
14WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood provides comprehensive health
15care services to women and men, which may include well-woman
16examinations, birth control, testing and treatment of sexually
17transmitted infections and HIV, pregnancy tests, life-saving cancer
18screenings, sex education, prenatal care, primary care
services,
19and abortion services; and
20WHEREAS, Nationwide, during 4.6 million health center visits
21in 2013, Planned Parenthood provided services, including nearly
22400,000 Pap smear tests, 500,000 breast examinations, 1.1 million
23pregnancy tests, 3.6 million provisions of birth control information
24and services, and 4.5 million tests and treatments for sexually
25transmitted illnesses (including HIV), to approximately 2.7 million
26patients, almost 80 percent of whom were living with incomes at
27or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level; and
28WHEREAS, By providing millions of women with access to
29contraceptive services, public funding of Planned Parenthood helps
30women to avoid an estimated 516,000 unplanned pregnancies each
31year nationwide; and
32WHEREAS, A sudden defunding of Planned Parenthood’s health
33centers by federal or state governments would put patients across
34California, particularly members of underserved communities, at
35a significant disadvantage relating to their general health care
36because Planned Parenthood is often the only source of health care
37services for so many Californians; and
38WHEREAS, Violence against abortion providers and laws that
39create barriers to abortion endanger the lives of both men and
40women; and
P3 1WHEREAS, Reports have found that threats of harassment,
2intimidation, and violence against women’s health clinics have
3doubled since 2010, and as recently as November 27, 2015, a
4Planned Parenthood clinic was the target of a heinous act of
5domestic terrorism which resulted in the deaths of three people
6and nonfatal injuries to nine others; and
7WHEREAS, The State of California stands in strong support of
8Roe v. Wade and the work of Planned Parenthood, and of women’s
9reproductive health, andbegin delete upholds each woman’send deletebegin insert respects the
10principle that each woman has aend insert fundamental right to make
11decisions regarding her pregnancy; now, therefore, be it
12Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
13California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President of the
14United States and Congress to express their support for access to
15comprehensive reproductive health care, including the services
16provided by Planned Parenthood and a woman’s fundamental right
17to control her own reproductive decisions, and to strongly oppose
18efforts to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood; and
19be it further
20Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
21this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
22States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
23Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
24Representative from California in the Congress of the United
25States.
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