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  








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          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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               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








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          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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