BILL NUMBER: SJR 19	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JANUARY 12, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JANUARY 6, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Jackson
   (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Atkins and Cristina Garcia)


                        AUGUST 26, 2015

   Relative to women's reproductive health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   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.



   WHEREAS, January 22, 2016, marks the anniversary of the United
States Supreme Court's landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, which
 held   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; 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 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; and
   WHEREAS, 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
   WHEREAS, Nationwide, during 4.6 million health center visits in
2013, Planned Parenthood provided services, including nearly 400,000
Pap smear tests, 500,000 breast examinations, 1.1 million pregnancy
tests, 3.6 million provisions of birth control information and
services, and 4.5 million tests and treatments for sexually
transmitted illnesses (including HIV), to approximately 2.7 million
patients, 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 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; 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 support of Roe
v. Wade and the work of Planned Parenthood, and of women's
reproductive health, and  upholds each woman's  
respects the principle that each woman has a  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, 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; 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.