California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Sunday that state lawmakers will submit legislation this week to assist women traveling from Arizona seeking abortion treatment in reaction to the implementation of one of the country’s harshest abortion laws.
An Arizona Supreme Court decision earlier this month put into effect an 1864 abortion law that prohibits access to the procedure in almost all cases beginning May 1. Despite appeals from national Republicans to replace the legislation with a less stringent one, state legislators have rejected attempts to repeal it.
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“It sickens you,” Newsom said of Arizona’s bill during an MSNBC interview with Jen Psaki on Sunday.
“We now have a ban that dates back to 1864 in the state of Arizona, and they’re celebrating 1864.” I thought the Republican Party wanted to wreck the 21st century,” he stated. “Now they want to recreate the 19th century.”
The “emergency legislation” would enable Arizona abortion providers to rapidly obtain approval to work in California, allowing them to continue their work from the adjacent state.
Before the summer session, Newsom did not specify when he would submit the bill or how he intended to get it through the Legislature.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) inspired the effort, according to the governor’s office.
“Arizona AG Kris Mayes identified a need to expedite the ability for Arizona abortion providers to continue to provide care to Arizonans as a way to support patients in their state seeking abortion care in California,” the attorney general’s office stated in a statement to The Hill. “We are responding to this call and will have more details to share in the coming days.”
Newsom, who is also a surrogate for President Biden’s reelection campaign, stated that the attention on Arizona comes as abortion rights appear to be a political issue in November.
He expects the campaign to “focus on Arizona electorally, to focus on Nevada electorally, states that will play potentially an outsized role in this election.”
Arizona will put abortion-related ballot proposals on the ballot in November, and a number of other states, including Nevada, a crucial swing state, have also pursued similar measures. These tactics aided Democrats in recent elections, including gubernatorial triumphs in deeply red Kansas and Kentucky.
