Senator Toni G. Atkins. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
Bill To Increase Number of Nurse Practitioners Performing Abortions Introduced in Senate
‘We’re not flying people from poor states to California to get heart transplants’
By Evan Symon, March 4, 2022 2:20 am
A bill to increase the number of nurse practitioners allowed to perform abortions without physician supervision was announced on Thursday, becoming the latest piece of legislation designed to increase abortion access in California.
Senate Bill 1375, authored by Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), would allow nurse practitioners that receive proper training to perform first trimester abortions without an attending doctor. The bill would expand the AB 154 law, which was also introduced by Atkins when she was an Assemblywoman and signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown in 2013. AB 154 allowed nurse practitioners as well as certified midwives and physician assistants to perform abortions with training and doctor supervision.
However, nine years later the abortion landscape in both the United States and in California has changed. Several states, led by Texas, have introduced laws restricting abortions. With other states also looking at more restrictions, and the Supreme Court poised to possibly overturn Roe v. Wade in the near future, California lawmakers are quickly looking into making California into an abortion sanctuary state.
While California being an abortion sanctuary state would bring in more tourists and taxes from an increased number of women looking for a safe place to receive the procedure, the very idea of it increasing abortions has also brought many Californians to oppose such a plan based on legal and moral grounds.
Despite the opposition, California is busy preparing for a likely influx of performed abortions. Measures for abortion group and abortion infrastructure funding, as well as other proposed legislation in addition to SB 1375, would increase the number of places prepared to perform abortions and increase the number of people who can perform them. While there are 30,000 nurse practitioners in California as of 2022, it is unknown how many would be certified and approved in time for the first influxes should more abortion restrictions come up in other parts of the country.
“As states like Texas and others start to restrict further abortion, it just makes sense that women are going to find other places to go. California will be one of those states,” said Senator Atkins on Thursday. She also added that other bills are currently in the works to help tie together funding, adding that “You will see a bill that tries to set up a framework for where we can do that and take private dollars.”
The latest abortion expansion bill in the legislature
While nurse practitioner groups said they are ready if the bill becomes law, and support already being signaled from many other lawmakers, several groups also came out against SB 1375 on Thursday, including the California Family Council.
“Atkins’ bill is a tragic example of the legislators putting abortion numbers above abortion safety and putting ideology above patients,” said California Family Council president Jonathan Keller. “We are essentially treating abortion like no other health care service. We’re not flying people from poor states to California to get heart transplants.”
Others gave a more middle-of-the-road view on Thursday, with many hoping that Californians themselves should be deciding on abortions fate in California and not left to lawmakers and others.
“A proposition that covers all of these, say a California abortion sanctuary state, would be ideal in this situation,” remarked Kylie Hirsch, a Philadelphia-based lawyer who has assisted in abortion cases nationwide, including California. “Texas is changing what a lot of states are doing, and the Supreme Court may give a firm ruling on abortion as soon as this summer. This is all influencing those against abortion, including in usually abortion-friendly states like California. So, honestly, anything the legislature does there might get more opposition than they thought they would. Why not leave it up to the people? That cuts past any and all biases on both sides in the legislature to a more direct vote. But it may also prove to be difficult too.”
More abortion-expanding measures are expected to come forward in California in the coming months in preparation for out-of-state tourists seeking abortions.
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“…California abortion sanctuary state, would be ideal in this situation,” remarked Kylie Hirsch, a Philadelphia-based lawyer…”
“…abortion-friendly states like California.”
Both would be excellent tag lines to boost tourism!
But gee, (looks at wristwatch) seems like only yesterday Cal government was concerned with Covid deaths overwhelming hospitals and masks keeping us all “safe”. Now state government is worried we don’t have enough medical professionals to perform abortions for women coming from other states.
Meanwhile, the doctor’s office in our town (which I chose because it’s 2 miles away, instead of 25 miles away in the “city”) has been closed for the last 2-years, because covid. Maybe if I wanted an abortion, they’d open the office up.
So well said! Couldn’t agree more.
And hey, CA leadership, how about a bit of a break from focusing on DEATH, and how you want to be responsible for more of it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? Could you see your way clear to doing that, for once, for your constituencies?
Gas between $5 and $7 per gallon and Abortions are what our legislator focuses on??? At some point in the near future these people are going to realize all the san upper middle class people (i.e. biggest tax revenue base) have LEFT CA for greener pastures – where our tax dollars go for things we believe in.
So since they can’t exploit the COVID death numbers anymore they have shifted to this shiny new object, making CA the Disneyland for abortion since they drove the real Disneyland out! They should be pivoting to the number of homeless dying on the streets from overdoses, or the number of just plain people in homes dying from overdoses from the drugs flowing across the border! Those are the real issues as those homeless are taking up valuable bed space in our stretched thin hospitals because they come in over an over again after overdosing or because of chronic health issues stemming for use ie infected injection sites, liver, kidney, heart issues etc….. What is wrong with these people and the people that keep voting for them? We are done and moving to another state next month as this to be is awful, that we are using our tax dollars to abort babies when even crooked Hillary back in the old days said it should be “rare”. I can’t be apart of it and will not. I have worked with premature babies as a Social Worker and it is amazing how well they do born prematurely which these disgusting Democrats are fine with killing up until birth. Have they no shame or conscience?
‘Eyes of the Devil” A Documentary Film by Patryk Vega (Child/Human Trafficking, Organ Harvesting)
You’re right, Kristin, can’t appeal to their conscience if they have none…
Senator Toni G. Atkins is part of the deep-state/dark-cult Democrat cabal who are all about death and destruction? She look like a ghoul?
Question, is it true 501(3)(c) non-profits must remain apolitical? Newsom campaign received $12k from planned parenthood and $10k from NARAL for the recall campaign.