CAPITOL UPDATE #34 September 8, 2022

All of the following have cleared the Legislature and have been sent to the Governor for action.

AB-2098 – Physicians and surgeons: unprofessional conduct – By the title, it sounds like a good idea because we want our medical physicians and surgeons to be professional.

However, this bill takes away free speech from physicians and surgeons from saying anything that goes against the government’s position.

This bill would designate the dissemination of misinformation or disinformation related to SARS-Covid-2 coronavirus or Covid-19 as unprofessional conduct.

The bill would also make findings and declarations in this regard. For example, if a physician should tell a patient or have an opinion, that the vaccine is not good then that would be considered unprofessional.
*No freedom of opinion for professional health providers.

AB-2089 – Privacy: mental health digital services: mental health application information – Existing State Law prohibits a provider of health care, a health care service plan, a contractor, a corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates, or any business that offers software or hardware to consumers, including a mobile application or other related device, as defined, from intentionally sharing, selling, using for marketing, or otherwise using any medical information, as defined, for any purpose not necessary to provide health care services to a patient, except as provided, a violation of these provisions that results in economic loss or personal injury to a patient punishable as a misdemeanor.

This Bill would revise the definition of medical information to include mental health application information. The bill would define mental health application information to mean information related to a consumer’s inferred or diagnosed mental health or substance use disorder, as specified, collected by a mental health digital service, as defined.

AB-1242 – Reproductive rights – Existing Law includes a declaration of the Legislature that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to reproductive decisions, including the fundamental right to choose to bear a child or obtain an abortion, requires all law enforcement agencies to develop, adopt, and implement written policies and standards for responding to anti-reproductive-rights calls by January 1, 2023, and requires superior court judges in each county to prepare, adopt, and annually revise a uniform countywide schedule of bail for all bailable offenses, as specified.

This Bill would prohibit a state or local law enforcement agency or officer from knowingly arresting or knowingly participating in the arrest of any person for performing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of an abortion or for obtaining an abortion, if the abortion is lawful in this state, would prohibit a state or local public agency from cooperating with or providing information to an individual or agency from another state or a federal law enforcement agency, as specified, regarding a lawful abortion and would require a uniform countywide schedule of bail to set $0 bail for an individual who has been arrested in connection with a proceeding in another state regarding and individual performing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of an abortion in this state, or an individual obtaining an abortion in this state, if the abortion is protected, as specified.