A new bill that Governor Gavin Newsom signed on Thursday permits doctors from Arizona to temporarily travel to California to perform abortions on their patients. Over the next months, Arizonans should have the opportunity to obtain legal abortions from their doctors. The action was a response to a recent ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court to reinstate a rule that outlaws almost all abortions in the state, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The legislation was initially established in 1864 but has not been enforced for many years.
After the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in 2022, states were free to enact their own abortion regulations. Since then, varied degrees of abortion prohibitions have been imposed by more than 20 states. It’s still unclear in Arizona precisely when or if the restriction from the Civil War era will take effect. However, the Democratic-led legislature in California was unwilling to take a chance.
The new law in California goes into effect right away and permits Arizona-licensed physicians to travel to California to perform abortions on their patients until the end of November. The repeal may go into force as early as October. A 45-day stay issued in a different but related case may allow the state Supreme Court to further postpone the execution of the stay until September 26. The 1864 statute was swiftly repealed by the Arizona state Legislature and signed into law by Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.
However, the repeal will not take effect until 90 days after the Arizona state Legislature’s session finishes, which typically occurs in June or July. As of right now, abortions in Arizona are legal up to 15 weeks of pregnancy. Doctors with medical licenses from Arizona who wish to conduct abortions in California would still need to submit an application. However, the legislation requires California authorities to accept the doctors’ application within five business days provided they satisfy specific standards.
He promised to turn the state into a “haven” for women seeking abortions from other states. California has implemented many laws to safeguard access to abortion, including allocating $20 million in public funds to assist in covering the cost of patients from other states traveling to California for an abortion. The measure approved by Newsom on Thursday does not contain any additional funding to assist Arizona patients in traveling to California for abortions. However, Newsom collaborated with the advocacy organization Red Wine and Blue to seek funds from private contributors to enable Arizona patients fly to California.
The Arizona Freedom Trust founded the Ohio-based organization, which aims to mobilize suburban women. On its website, it stated that it had raised just over $111,000 of its roughly $500,000 target. In order to enact this legislation, Newsom and his Democratic colleagues in the state legislature moved swiftly. However, considering the ambiguity surrounding the Arizona law’s enforcement and the opposition of the state’s senior authorities to its execution, some Republicans questioned its need.
