May 23 (UPI) — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Thursday legislation permitting Arizona abortion providers to temporarily offer their services to Arizonas in neighboring California.
Senate Bill 233 was put forward in California in response to Arizona’s Supreme Court last month reimposing a controversial 1864 law that imposes a near-total ban on abortion, among the most repressive in the country.
Amid public outcry over the ruling, Arizona lawmakers voted to repeal the ban and Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, signed it early this month, but it won’t take effect for a matter of months.
S.B. 233, which goes into immediate effect, permits Arizona abortion providers with “good standing” to provide abortions to Arizona residents in California through Nov. 30 if the ban goes into effect and after the neighboring state returns to its 15-week ban to ensure continued access to care, Newsom’s office said.
In a statement Thursday, Newsom attacked Arizona Republicans over the imposition of the Civil War-era abortion ban, stating California will not “stand by and acquiesce to their oppressive and dangerous attacks on women.”
Arizona’s abortion laws were thrown into chaos following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to repeal federal protections for the medical procedure by overturning Roe. vs. Wade in June of 2022.
Following that ruling, Arizona’s then-Republican attorney general, Mark Brnovich, asked a state judge to allow the 160-year-old law to be enforced, with the state’s Supreme Court ruling 4-2 in April that the law was, in fact, enforceable.
“Our Arizona sisters can come to California to get the health care they need from their own doctors, who they know and rely on,” state Sen. Nancy Skinner, the Democratic chair of California Legislative Women’s Caucus, which was behind S.B. 233.
“Once again California has made it crystal clear for all those who need or deliver essential reproductive care: We’ve got your back.”