BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SJR 19|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SJR 19
Author: Jackson (D), et al.
Amended: 5/23/16
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 1/26/16
AYES: Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NOES: Moorlach, Anderson
SENATE FLOOR: 25-12, 2/1/16
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, De León, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara,
Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Pavley,
Roth, Wieckowski, Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Fuller, Huff, Moorlach,
Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Runner, Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella, Gaines, Leno
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-22, 5/23/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Womens reproductive health
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution makes various findings regarding the
importance of Roe v. Wade (1973) 410 U.S. 113, the services
provided by Planned Parenthood, and womens reproductive health.
This resolution states California's strong support of each of
the aforementioned and the principle that each woman has a
fundamental right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy.
This resolution urges the United States (U.S.) President and
Congress to express their support for access to comprehensive
reproductive health care, including the services provided by
SJR 19
Page 2
Planned Parenthood and a woman's fundamental right to control
her own reproductive decisions, and to strongly oppose efforts
to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
Assembly Amendments add coauthors.
ANALYSIS:
This resolution:
1)Makes various statements relating to the importance of the
Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade and women's reproductive
health, including, among other things, that:
January 22, 2016, marks the anniversary of the U.S.
Supreme Court's landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, which
acknowledged 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;
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
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
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Page 3
healthy.
1)Makes various statements relating to the importance of the
services provided by Planned Parenthood to Californians,
including, among other things, that:
California recognizes the importance of Planned
Parenthood as one of this State's largest providers of
women's preventive and reproductive health care services,
operating 115 community-based health centers across the
state, which provide more than 1.6 million patient visits a
year;
Planned Parenthood provides comprehensive health care
services to 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, sex education, prenatal
care, primary care services, and abortion services; and
A sudden defunding of Planned Parenthood's 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 because Planned Parenthood is
often the only source of health care services for so many
Californians.
1)States that violence against abortion providers and laws that
create barriers to abortion endanger the lives of both men and
women and would set forth statistics on the rise in threats of
harassment, intimidation, and violence against women's health
clinics, including a specific reference a recent attack on a
Planned Parenthood clinic on November 27, 2015.
2)States that the State of California stands in strong support
of Roe v. Wade and the work of Planned Parenthood, and of
women's reproductive health, and respects the principle that
each woman has a fundamental right to make decisions regarding
her pregnancy.
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3)Urges the President and Congress to express their support for
access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including
the services provided by Planned Parenthood and a woman's
fundamental right to control her own reproductive decisions,
and to strongly oppose efforts to eliminate federal funding
for Planned Parenthood.
Background
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Roe v. Wade (1973) 410
U.S. 113 that the constitutional right to privacy extends to a
woman's decision whether to terminate a pregnancy, while
acknowledging that some state regulation was permissible. This
Legislature has on numerous occasions adopted resolutions urging
the President and Congress to reaffirm the intent and substance
of that decision.
Starting in July of last year, Planned Parenthood, a non-profit
organization that provides reproductive health services
throughout the U.S. through a network of affiliated clinics, was
prominently featured in the national news cycle after the
release of controversial videos involving alleged unlawful
activities by Planned Parenthood (which the organization has
denied). (See e.g. Scott, Anti-Planned Parenthood Group Releases
Latest Video, CNN (Aug. 25, 2015)
Page 5
Senate Passes Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood, Repeal Health
Law, National Public Radio (Dec. 3, 2015)
Page 6
This resolution, in recognition of the Roe v. Wade anniversary
and in light of recent events involving Planned Parenthood,
seeks to urge the President and Congress to express their
support for access to comprehensive reproductive health care,
including the services provided by Planned Parenthood and a
woman's fundamental right to control her own reproductive
decisions, and to strongly oppose efforts to eliminate federal
funding for Planned Parenthood.
Comments
As stated by the author:
Since July 2015, anti-abortion activists have leveled a series
of false claims against Planned Parenthood. Using heavily
edited videos, extremists made accusations about practices to
facilitate fetal tissue donation at a small number of Planned
Parenthood affiliates. These claims have now been widely
discredited and debunked.
This smear campaign has inspired efforts for congress to
defund Planned Parenthood as well as the creation of a special
investigative committee. Similarly, six states have faced
efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and seven states have
begun investigations of the women's health provider. The
agenda of these extremists is to push for legislation to
prevent patients, who rely on federal funds, from accessing
care at Planned Parenthood or that would ban safe and legal
abortion.
California recognizes the importance of Planned Parenthood as
one of California's largest providers of women's preventive
and reproductive health care services, operating 115
community-based health centers across the state, which provide
more than 1.6 million patient visits a year. [ . . . ]
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A sudden defunding of Planned Parenthood's 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 because Planned Parenthood is often the only source of
health care services for so many Californians.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/24/16)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
Chapter Lead of Organizing for Action Contra Costa
Citizens for Choice
Community Action Fund of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San
Bernardino Counties
National Council of Jewish Women California
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest
Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project of Los Angeles County
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Planned Parenthood Northern California Action Fund
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/24/16)
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: In support, Planned Parenthood
Northern California Action Fund writes that "[t]he ruling in Roe
v. Wade cemented the right for women to control their own
reproductive lives, and eliminated the need for women to receive
unsafe, illegal abortion procedures. Many women who underwent
these risky abortion procedures suffered serious injuries or
died as a result." Planned Parenthood also writes in support
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that, as reflected in this resolution, its health centers "are
often the primary source of health care for California's
underserved communities. These health centers provide an array
of services including well-woman exams, birth control, testing
and treatment of sexually transmitted infection and HIV,
pregnancy tests, life-saving cancer screenings, prenatal care,
sex education, and primary care services, and in some locations,
abortion services."
Also in support, the Citizens for Choice echoes the importance
of the Roe v. Wade decision, noting that the Court's decision
"not only saved women's lives by preventing unsafe, illegal
abortion procedures[, it] also bolstered women's reproductive
rights and access to needed reproductive and sexual health
services generally." Citizens for Choice, like other proponents
of this bill, including Planned Parenthood and the National
Council of Jewish Women California, further argues that no
patient should ever fear harm when seeking comprehensive
reproductive health care, as seen with the shooting attack on
Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs last November, and the
arson attack on the Thousand Oaks clinic here in California.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: In opposition, the California Right
to Life Committee, Inc. (CRLC) argues that this resolution
"wraps its justification for support of Planned Parenthood
around the non-abortion service areas of this 'non profit'
corporation. Statistics are cited for continuing to provide
public dollars for Planned Parenthood in recognition of its work
as a primary care facility for low income women. However, one
must acknowledge that most of Planned Parenthood centers are
located in communities of color where these low income women
live and which would appear to be for racially connected
purposes. Abortion services are a major portion of Planned
Parenthood reproductive services in the United States." CRLC
writes that taxpayers should "demand that no more monies go to
further the horror story of the dismemberment and torture of
pre-born babies by Planned Parenthood."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 51-22, 5/23/16
SJR 19
Page 9
AYES: Alejo, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown,
Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo
Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez, Low,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Dahle, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Mathis,
Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron,
Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Travis Allen, Arambula, Chang, Eggman,
Hadley, Maienschein, Patterson
Prepared by:Ronak Daylami / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
5/25/16 13:50:33
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