CAPITOL UPDATE #12 April 7, 2022

AB-2223 – WHAT DOES THIS BILL DO?
The bill begins with, The People of the State of California Do Enact as Follows:  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

1. Reproductive justice is a framework created by Black women in 1994 to address the intersectional and multifactored issues that women of color and their families face in society.
2. Reproductive justice is the human right to control our bodies, sexuality, gender, work and reproduction.  That right can only be achieved when all people, particularly women and girls, have the complete economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, families, and communities in all areas of their lives.  At the core of reproductive justice is the belief in the right to bodily autonomy, the right to have children, the right to not have children, and the right to parent the children we have with dignity and respect in safe and sustainable communities.
3. A CRITICAL PART OF REALIZING REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE FOR PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA IS CLARIFYING THAT THERE SHALL BE NO CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR PEOPLE’S ACTUAL, POTENTIAL, OR ALLEGED PREGNANCY OUTCOMES.

This bill, introduced by Assembly Member Wicks and coauthor Assembly Member Mullin, states that a person will not be “subject to civil or criminal liability or penalty” based on their actions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion or perinatal death.”  This bill would prohibit using the coroner’s statements on the certificate of fetal death to establish, bring, or support a criminal prosecution or civil cause of damages against any person.

This bill would prohibit a person from being subject to civil or criminal liability or otherwise deprived of their rights, based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome or based solely on their actions to aid or assist a pregnant person who is exercising their reproductive rights.  It would allow a non-medical person to assist in an abortion without any criminal consequences.

CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR ASAP (see below links) TO OPPOSE THIS BILL.  IT IS SCHEDULED FOR A HEARING IN THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER AS WELL, AND URGE THEM TO VOTE NO ON AB-2223.

For further information on any of the bills mentioned here, click the Bill # in the email. Or you can CLICK HERE and simply enter the bill # or keywords where designated.

Find/contact your local Legislators, click HERE to inquire, or let them know your opinion about bills or issues.

To contact your U.S. Representatives, call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121

Listen to hearings on bills that interest you – http://www.legislature.ca.gov/the_state_legislature/calendar_and_schedules/audio_tv.html 

California Legislative Portal links – Express your support or opposition to a bill directly to the Legislative committee currently reviewing it (as an individual, not as a member of RWF or CFRW) – click here, or the bill’s author- click here, enter your bill # and look for the tab at top of the bill page labeled “Comments to Author”.