Gavin Newsom Signs Law to Make Abortions Free in California 

Lawmakers are staying busy to make sure abortion on demand is the law of state as the United States Supreme Court revisits Roe v. Wade, including in California where women will be able to abort their unborn child for free.

“With this legislation, we’ll help ensure equitable, affordable access to abortion services so that out-of-pocket costs don’t stand in the way of receiving care,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. 

Senate Bill 245, named the Abortion Accessibility Act, prohibits insurance companies from charging a deductible, co-pay, or deductible for the procedure, which in California is available until  “fetus viability.”

Newsom’s wife is referred to as “First Partner” in the left-wing San Francisco Chronicle’s report on the law and pregnancy as a condition experienced by “pregnant people.”

The Chronicle reported:

Co-pays and deductibles can surpass $1,000 and tend to get more expensive as the fetus develops, often putting pregnant people who need or want abortion services in a position where they cannot afford reproductive care, officials said. SB245 will ensure that anyone seeking abortion services in California will have “autonomy over their own bodies and the ability to control their own destinies,” First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom said in a statement.

The California Future of Abortion Council, an advisory group focused on reproductive health care, recommended the bill’s passage last year as a way to make abortion services more affordable and accessible. Newsom signed a Proclamation on Reproductive Freedom in 2019 — a symbolic commitment to safeguarding choice and access in reproductive health care.

“Eliminating out-of-pocket costs for abortion for people with private insurance is a major step in California’s commitment to being a Reproductive Freedom state — making abortion services more accessible and affordable for all people in California,” Jodi Hicks, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said in a statement about the law, which go into effect in 2023. 

“SB 245 becoming law means that more Californians will be able to access the care they want, when they want,” Hicks said.

Another Democrat California lawmaker, Sen. Nancy Skinner, proposed a bill last week that would create a fund to help women pay the expenses of traveling to California to abort their child.

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