Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned abortion rights in 2022, health care providers across California have seen an increase in protests outside their clinics and scrambled to tighten safety measures to protect patients from outside disruptions. They are lobbying cities to enforce ordinances designed to protect them.
The bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday addresses deterrence across the state and increases criminal penalties for those who harass or intimidate patients entering abortion clinics. The law goes further than a decades-old federal law that made it illegal to threaten or harass people outside of abortion clinics or churches.
The law comes as the Los Angeles-area Planned Parenthood System's spending on safety measures at its clinics has “quadrupled” since the landmark Roe v. Wade reversal, the Los Angeles Planned Parenthood System says. said Sue Dunlap, president and chief executive officer.
Dunlap did not disclose how much money he spent on security, but said it was partially used to hire security personnel and was “in the seven figures,” adding that the total was “unimaginable” just a few years ago. It was something that wasn't there. He said thousands of protesters gathered outside 24 clinics in Los Angeles County last year alone, and health care providers “regularly” ask law enforcement for help with regulations.
“Without a doubt, there has been an increase in a type of harassment outside of health centers that, to me, is really terrorism directed at our patients, our staff, and our mission,” Dunlap said. “All the protests that we imagine happening in other parts of the country are happening here.”
While abortion providers welcome the additional protections, they worry that acknowledging the growing problem of protests will prevent women from accessing care.
“I also want to emphasize that we are working very hard to make sure that our health centers are safe and secure places,” Dunlap said. “But the challenge of actually ensuring safety has increased exponentially over the last few years.”
Abortion rights remain protected in California, but health care providers in the state say harassment has escalated since a 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned federal abortion protections for all Americans. . Currently, abortion rights are left up to each state, leaving millions of people across the country without access to abortion care.
Earlier this year, an Orange County man sentenced to 9 years in prison Sentenced to prison for incendiary bombing of family planning clinic in Costa Mesa. Last year, a San Bernardino County man sentenced to imprisonment for 2 years or more He is in jail for shooting at a Pasadena family planning clinic.
Cities containing sacramento and walnut creek Since the Supreme Court's decision, it has approved an ordinance requiring “buffer zones” outside abortion clinics, requiring protesters to stay 8 feet away from patients. It also passed an ordinance restricting the use of megaphones and other noise amplifiers after patients reported hearing anti-abortion chants coming from exam rooms.
Similar laws have been in place in some parts of the state, including San Francisco, for years, but abortion clinic officials say they are difficult to enforce. The ordinance also exposed the city to lawsuits over First Amendment rights.
this summerSan Diego amends decades-old buffer zone law to require patients seeking treatment at abortion clinics to obtain consent before protesters can “verbally or physically” approach them. . anti-abortion activist suing the city He claimed the new policy violated his free speech rights.
Jody Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, which supported the bill, said, “Patients and health care providers are facing such unfair and indiscriminate hostile opposition.'' “There's no other medical field like it.”
A new state law means anyone who violates California's Free Admissions to Clinics and Churches Act could face felony charges. Under the original law, passed in 2001 and mirrored by federal law, anyone who threatens, intimidates, or injures a patient admitted to a reproductive health clinic can be sentenced to a misdemeanor, up to one year in prison, or up to one year in prison, depending on the crime. You could be fined up to $50,000.
of The law was signed on Saturday Make the crime a felony rather than a misdemeanor.
The bill was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports abortion access but said expanded criminal penalties would do nothing to deter abortion and would add to states' mounting incarceration costs.
The ACLU argued that the law as written is good enough and that lawmakers should instead focus on making sure it is better enforced.
Even before the Supreme Court's decision overturning federal abortion protections, abortion clinics in Northern California were struggling with persistent protests, and health care officials were closing down facilities in San Francisco and Walnut Creek to ease the chaos. They were motivated to change locations.
Planned Parenthood Northern California after decision in 2022 raise your voice Noting the escalating protests, he called for volunteers to escort patients to the clinic door.
Last week, abortion clinics across the state geared up for the launch of 40 Days for Life, a nationally coordinated anti-abortion campaign. The group advertises its events as “peaceful” 24-hour prayer vigils, but a California clinic has reported its members to authorities for harassment.
Life is 40 days in Walnut Creek hired armed guards The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office says he was charged with assault after pepper spray was used on counter-protesters to protect them outside the Planned Parenthood system.
Representatives for the Walnut Creek and Sacramento chapters of 40 Days for Life did not respond to requests for comment.
“Even in reproductive freedom California, we continue to deal with hostile and aggressive opponents, requiring us to go beyond our normal operations, which are costly and , it should be unnecessary,” said Gilda Gonzalez, chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Northern California.
