Arizona doctors could provide abortion care to their patients in California under proposed bill

Arizona doctors will have the ability to travel to California and perform abortions for their patients under a new bill announced Wednesday.

The bill, not yet finalized, is in response to an Arizona Supreme Court ruling this month that upheld an almost complete abortion ban from 1864. Under that law, someone who performs or helps someone get an abortion could face a felony charge and two to five years in prison if convicted.

“It’s obvious that the real objective is to return women to second-class citizens,” said state Senator Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley Democrat and author of the new bill. “We will not abandon our sisters or their health care providers in Arizona or any other state.”

Skinner was flanked by members of the state’s Legislative Women’s Caucus, of which she is chair, as she announced the urgency measure. One of her existing bills — Senate Bill 233, which is about electric vehicle batteries — will be amended and become the new legislation.

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