California Becomes the Sixth State to Legally Protect Telehealth Abortion and Gender-Care Providers

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law that protects healthcare practitioners located in California who provide telehealth services and dispense medication for abortion, contraception and gender-affirming care to out-of-state patients. California joins five other states with similar telehealth provider shield laws.

“The signing of SB 345 into law is a huge win for reproductive freedom and access to essential healthcare, including abortion care,” said Shannon Olivieri Hovis, director of Reproductive Freedom for All California. “This law extends beyond California’s borders and will help people all over the country access the healthcare that they need.”

Under SB 345, people in states that have criminalized abortion or gender-affirming care will be able to obtain healthcare from a California clinician via telehealth or videoconferencing and have medication shipped to them from a California pharmacy. SB 345 will protect California doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers located in California from criminal and civil actions initiated in another state. The law also protects providers from loss of a medical license and malpractice insurance relating to any legally protected healthcare activity in the state.

“With SB 345, California doctors, midwives, pharmacists and others can continue to provide the essential reproductive and gender-affirming care their patients need, regardless of where their patient is located, confident that California is protecting our medical professionals from malicious prosecution,” said Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), who introduced the bill. 

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