In the News

March 20, 2023

It also allows health care providers to bring suit "against anyone who interferes with the health care provider’s right to provide care that is legal in California," per state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D).

"[The bill] will further protect our health care providers who are extending a lifeline to their patients who may be in a state where medically safe and effective treatments are now illegal," Skinner said.

Skinner's bill also includes protections for doctors who mail services for contraception or gender-affirming care.

 

March 18, 2023

California doctors or pharmacists who prescribe or dispense abortion pills to out-of-state patients would have new legal protections under a provision recently proposed in the Golden State.

The new bill, SB345, would prevent healthcare providers who are legally performing their jobs in California from facing prosecution in another state or being extradited — a growing concern as more states move to criminalize abortion and other reproductive healthcare.

March 17, 2023

Doctors in California who mail abortion pills to people in other states would be protected from prosecution under a new bill announced Friday in the state Legislature.

The bill would not let California extradite doctors who are facing charges in another state for providing abortion medication. It would also shield doctors from having to pay fines. And it would let California doctors sue anyone who tries to stop them from providing abortions.

March 14, 2023

Democratic lawmakers introduced a package of bills on Monday to further bolster California’s role as an abortion haven after last year’s repeal of the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade.

March 14, 2023

Another bill, by state Senator Nancy Skinner, would protect abortion providers if they provide medical care to California residents, like sending them a pill while they are out of state for whatever reason. 

Even though it’s mailing across state lines, she says it’s legal. 

“That is not uncommon now," she said. 

 

For the full report, click here.

March 14, 2023

In 1994, then-California Governor Pete Wilson signed a bill giving the state prison system more authority to block journalists from entering prisons to report on conditions inside. By 1996, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) had pulled up the drawbridge, instituting what were considered some of the most restrictive policies in the nation. Between 1998 and 2012, state lawmakers tried and failed to reverse the CDCR’s limits on media access nine times.

Legislators are prepared to try again this year.