While many Republican controlled states have made access to abortions more difficult by passing sweeping restrictions in 2013, California is trying to make access to abortion easier for low-income and rural women. On Wednesday October 9th, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 154, which allows nurse practitioners to perform abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. The measure was introduced by San Diego Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, who argued that the bill was necessary, because in many rural parts of the state, not enough physicians are available to meet the current demand. Without the new law, women in these areas sometimes had to wait several days, or if they could afford to, travel many miles to undergo the procedure.
Although the controversial bill has already received criticism from abortion opponents that it will lead to unsafe abortions, a study commissioned by the University of California, San Francisco found that their was no significant difference in complications from abortions performed by nurse practitioners compared to doctors and that fewer than two percent of abortions performed by nurse practitioners involved any kind of post-procedure complications. Currently, around half of California’s counties perform no or very few abortions, and the new law is intended to make access more available in under served communities.
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In addition, the Governor also signed AB 980, a measure that would eliminate portions of the California Building Standards Code that singled out clinics which provide abortion services for having to comply with standards that other health care facilities are not required to meet. The new law would make the treatment of clinics that perform abortions and those that do not equal before the law. Although abortion remains an emotionally charged and contentious issue, California should be applauded for leaving the decision with the woman, and making access easier if for her if she chooses to undergo the procedure. In a year where states around the country have erected legislative hurdles to make it more difficult for a woman to exercise her reproductive choice, California is bucking the trend and leaving that decision up to the woman rather than putting it in the hands of self-righteous lawmakers.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
