California voters will see an abortion initiative on the November midterm ballot as activists and legislators push to protect access to abortion and contraception in the state.
Senate Constitutional Amendment 10, approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom on June 29, proposes an amendment to the California Constitution that will secure the fundamental right to choose or refuse an abortion and contraceptives. The initiative, which references the right to privacy already explicitly protected in the California Constitution, will serve as a long-term strengthening of protections, said Cathren Cohen, a scholar of law and policy with the UCLA Law Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy.
Even though abortion currently remains protected in California, this midterm ballot initiative would ensure the state legislature could not obstruct abortion access in the future, said Chelsea Jones, a political science doctoral student and senior policy fellow at the UCLA Voting Rights Project.
“This move is a way to ensure that the things that we expect from California are actually law,” she said. “It’s been California’s reputation that has made it (constitutional abortion protection) not a necessity.”