Amended in Senate August 4, 2014

Senate Resolution No. 55

Introduced by Senator Jackson

July 3, 2014

Senate Resolution No. 55—Relative to reproductive health.

begin delete

WHEREAS, California has always prioritized women’s health
care; and

end delete begin delete

WHEREAS, Any decisions to use contraceptives should be
made by a woman in consultation with her health care providers
and not her employer; and

end delete begin insert

WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) maintains that family planning is one of the 10
great public health achievements of the 20th Century; and

end insert

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has previously
recognized in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania
v. Casey (1992) 505 U.S. 833, 856, that “[t]he ability of women
to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation
has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive
lives”; and

begin insert

WHEREAS, The United States Congress required health plans
to cover all Food and Drug Administration-approved methods of
contraception for women with no out-of-pocket costs as part of
the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA),
and nearly 30 million woman across the United States have already
benefited from that provision; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014) 573
U.S. ____, the Supreme Court concluded that closely-held
corporations cannot be required to provide contraceptive coverage
if the corporations’ owners have religious objections to the
contraception; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, Women generally have less disposable income to
spend on health care services because of the gender pay gap, the
impact of the decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. will
place additional financial burdens on women already facing the
inequity of wage discrimination; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, Nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers are
women, the impact of the decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby
Stores, Inc. is expected to fall more heavily on low-income women
whose access to health care is frequently limited; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, As noted in Justice Ginsberg’s dissent, the cost of
an intrauterine device (IUD) “is nearly equivalent to a month’s
full-time pay for workers earning the minimum wage”; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, The lack of access to contraception leads to an
increase in unintended pregnancies; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, According to the CDC’s National Center for Health
Statistics, more than 99 percent of women use birth control at
some point in their lives, and approximately 62 percent of all
women of reproductive age are currently using a contraceptive
method; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, Contraceptive services can serve as a gateway for
women to enter the health care system and obtain preventive
medical care; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, “The exemption sought by Hobby Lobby . . . would
deny legions of women who do not hold their employers’ beliefs
access to contraceptive coverage that the ACA would otherwise
secure,” as noted in Justice Ginsberg’s dissent; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, Any decisions to use contraceptives should be made
by a woman in consultation with her health care providers and
not her employer; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, According to the Guttmacher Institute, state
legislatures of the United States introduced over 1,100 anti-choice,
anti-women legislative proposals in 2011, designed to place
restrictions on women’s health care and erode protections for
women and their families, including restricting access to
contraception, imposing invasive procedures to impede a woman’s
choice, and allowing for-profit companies to prohibit choice; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, It is the goal of some to deprive women of their
reproductive rights by using the argument of religious freedom
and ignoring women’s health, which results in the disparate
treatment of women and undermines individual choice; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, There appears to be an organized strategy to upend
long-standing policy in the areas of contraceptive rights and health
care rights for women; and

end insert begin insert

WHEREAS, California has always prioritized women’s health
care, including passing the groundbreaking Women’s
Contraception Equity Act in 1999, which requires employer-based
health plans that cover a variety prescription drugs to also cover
a variety of prescription contraceptive methods; and

end insert

WHEREAS, There is concern that corporations may attempt to
misuse the precedent set by Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
begin delete (2014) 573 U.S. ____ end delete to unduly restrict women’s health care
options or seek religious exemptions from other generally
applicable laws; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate
of the State of California recognizes the critical importance of a
continued commitment to reproductive health care and access; and
be it further

begin insert

Resolved, That the Senate of the State of California urges
the United States Senate to reconsider and approve Senate Bill
2578, referred to as the Not My Boss’s Business Act, which would
prevent employers from denying coverage of contraceptives
regardless of their religious views; and be it further

end insert begin insert

Resolved, That the Senate of the State of California reaffirms
the decision of Roe v. Wade (1973) 410 U.S. 113, which
acknowledges that reproductive choice is a fundamental right that
belongs to all women; and be it further

end insert

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, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.