As if it isn’t enough that California lawmakers want to legalize infanticide and create a right to self-induced abortion, the California legislature recently passed a bill to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would prohibit the state from interfering with the “fundamental right” to abortion.
The ballot measure, Prop 1, also prohibits state interference with the “fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.” Note that the amendment would not protect the right to refuse abortion.
Prop 1’s drafters somehow found the fundamental right to destroy innocent life in the state Constitution’s provisions declaring that defending life and liberty are inalienable rights. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, held that abortion is not a protected liberty in the U.S. Constitution.
Existing California law restricts abortion after the age of viability and most abortionists do not commit abortions after 24 weeks. Prop 1 would eliminate the viability restriction, as the “right” to abortion could not be interfered with based on viability or any other standard.
California is not the only state considering amending a state constitution to guarantee the “right” to abortion. Vermont voters will vote on the “Right to Personal Reproductive Autonomy Amendment” in November. Washington state governor Jay Inslee has promised to make his state a “sanctuary of choice” and is urging state legislators to place an abortion amendment on the ballot.
Life Legal is working to oppose Prop 1 and other amendments that would enshrine the killing of babies in the womb in state constitutions.