Download assembly committee on health

SJR 19
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Date of Hearing: May 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Jim Wood, Chair
SJR 19 (Jackson) – As Amended January 12, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 25-12
SUBJECT: Women’s reproductive health.
SUMMARY: 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 make her own reproductive decisions, and to
strongly oppose efforts to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Specifically, this
resolution:
1) Makes various statements relating to the importance of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v.
Wade and women’s reproductive health, including, among other things, that:
a) January 22, 2016, marks the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision
in Roe v. Wade, which 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;
b) 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
c) 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.
2) Makes various statements relating to the importance of the services provided by Planned
Parenthood to Californians, including, among other things, that:
a) California recognizes the importance of Planned Parenthood as one of this State’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;
b) 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,
c) 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
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Planned Parenthood is often the only source of health care services for many
Californians.
3) States that violence against abortion providers and laws that create barriers to abortion
endanger the lives of both men and women and would set forth statistics on the rise in threats
of harassment, intimidation, and violence against women’s health clinics, including a specific
reference to a recent attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic on November 27, 2015.
4) States that the State of California stands in strong support of Roe v. Wade and the work of
Planned Parenthood, of women’s reproductive health, and respects the principle that each
woman has a fundamental right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy.
5) Urges the President 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.
EXISTING STATE LAW establishes the California Reproductive Privacy Act, which prohibits
the state from denying or interfering with a women's right to choose or obtain an abortion prior
to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the
woman, and makes legislative findings and declarations that every individual possesses a
fundamental right of privacy with respect to personal reproductive decisions, and that every
woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child or to choose and to obtain an
abortion, as specified.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW prohibits federal Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) dollars from
being spent on abortion services except in extraordinary circumstances, such as when the
woman's life is in danger, or in cases of rape or incest.
FISCAL EFFECT: None.
COMMENTS:
1) PURPOSE OF THIS RESOLUTION. According to the author, this resolution reaffirms
that 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 respects the principle that each woman
has a fundamental right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy.
2) BACKGROUND.
a) Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), is a landmark decision by the United
States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. Decided simultaneously with a
companion case, Doe v. Bolton, the Court ruled seven to two that a right to privacy under
the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an
abortion, but that right must be balanced against the state's two legitimate interests in
regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life and protecting women's health. Arguing
that these state interests became stronger over the course of a pregnancy, the Court
resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the trimester of
pregnancy. This Legislature has on numerous occasions adopted resolutions urging the
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President and Congress to reaffirm the intent and substance of that decision.
b) Planned Parenthood in the news. Starting in July of last year, Planned Parenthood, a
non-profit organization that provides reproductive health care services throughout the
U.S. through a network of affiliated clinics, was prominently featured in the national
news cycle after the release of controversial videos purporting to show that Planned
Parenthood illegally sold fetal tissue for profit. Planned Parenthood has denied those
accusations and several state investigations have turned up no wrongdoing on the part of
the organization.
In the fall of 2015, news outlets reported that a Planned Parenthood facility in Thousand
Oaks, California suffered an arson attack after a window was smashed and gasoline was
splashed inside and ignited. On November 27, 2015, according to reports, a man armed
with an assault-style rifle gun opened fire at a Planned Parenthood center in Colorado
Springs, Colorado, ultimately killing three people, including a police officer and two
civilians, and wounding nine others before he finally surrendered five hours later.
c) Medicaid funding. Ten states have taken action or recently passed legislation to cut off
Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida,
Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin. On April 19, 2016, the
Obama Administration warned officials in all 50 states that actions to end Medicaid
funding of Planned Parenthood may be out of compliance with federal law. A letter from
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is being sent to all state Medicaid offices
to clarify that terminating certain providers from Medicaid is only justifiable if those
providers are unable to perform covered medical services or can't bill for those services.
The guidance emphasizes that states cannot target providers for impermissible reasons
and are required to treat similar types of provider equitably.
3) SUPPORT. Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (PPAC) is the sponsor of this
resolution and states that the ruling in Roe v. Wade cemented the right for women to control
their own reproductive lives and eliminated the need for women to receive unsafe, illegal
abortion procedures. PPAC notes Planned Parenthood health centers play a substantial role
in delivering reproductive health care services to over a million Californians each year, as
well as an array of services including well-woman exams, birth control, testing and treatment
of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, pregnancy tests, life-saving cancer screenings,
prenatal care, sex education, primary care services, and in some locations, abortion services.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) states it
stands firmly in support of all who utilize PPAC's health care services, and that for many
low-income Americans, Planned Parenthood is their only choice; they rely on receiving the
safe and nonjudgmental health care services provided by Planned Parenthood for their overall
well-being and health. AFSCME concludes it will always defend the rights of women,
regardless of age, income, or life choices, to have access to these services.
4) OPPOSITION. The California Right to Life Committee (CRLC), Inc., opposes this
resolution stating that most Planned Parenthood centers are located in communities of color
where low income women live and which would appear to be for racially connected
purposes. CRLC contends that abortion services are a major portion of Planned Parenthood
reproductive services in the United States and that 323,999 abortions were done in 2014, half
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of which could have been female babies. CRLC concludes that tax payers should demand
that no more monies go to further the horror story of the dismemberment and torture of preborn babies.
5) PREVIOUS LEGISLATION.
a) SR 55 (Jackson) adopted by the California State Senate on June 14, 2013, made various
statements relating to women’s reproductive health and the recent U.S. Supreme Court
decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Inc. (2014). This measure declared the Senate’s
recognition of the critical importance of a continued commitment to reproductive health
care and access and urged the U.S. Senate to reconsider and approve Senate Bill 2578,
referred to as the “Not My Boss’s Business Act,” which would prevent employers from
denying coverage of contraceptives regardless of their religious views. SR 55 also
declared that the California State Senate reaffirms the decision of Roe v. Wade (1973).
b) SR 10 (Jackson) adopted by the California State Senate on April 8, 2013 memorialized
that on the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, the
California State Senate recognizes the critical importance of continued access to safe and
legal abortion, and urges Congress and the President to protect and uphold the intent and
substance of that decision. SR 10 also made various statements regarding the effect of
Roe v. Wade on women’s ability to exercise their full rights under federal and state law.
c) SJR 19 (Alquist, Figueroa, Kehoe) of 2005 was a similar resolution to SR 10; it was
referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee but not set for hearing.
d) AJR 3 (Cohn and Karnette), Resolution Chapter 83, Statutes of 2005, was almost
identical to SJR 19.
e) AJR 57 (Jackson) Resolution. Chapter 50, Statutes of 2004 was almost identical to AJR
3.
f) AJR 2 (Jackson), Resolution Chapter 63, Statutes of 2003, was almost identical to AJR
57.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO
Community Action Fund of Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Santa Barbara, Ventura & San Luis Obispo counties
Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
Analysis Prepared by: Lara Flynn / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097