Assemblymembers David Chiu (D-San Francisco) and Autumn Burke (D-Los Angeles) introduced AB 775, a bill that helps ensure women receive prompt access to affordable, comprehensive reproductive-health care and are empowered to make fully informed decisions.
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AB 775, the Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care and Transparency (FACT) Act, requires licensed facilities that provide family planning and pregnancy-related services to inform patients about available assistance for affordable contraception, abortion, and prenatal care, including how to obtain that assistance. Facilities that offer similar services but do not have a medical license must disclose that they are not licensed facilities and do not have a licensed provider on staff. The bill is sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice California and Black Women for Wellness.
“California has a proud legacy of providing safe access to preventative, prenatal and reproductive services to all women,” said Assemblymember Chiu. “Unfortunately, a growing and alarming movement is working to mislead women in order to achieve their political ideology. We have a responsibility as lawmakers to make sure that the information given to women who are making their own healthcare decisions is accurate and timely.”
“All women in California have the right to take charge of their own reproductive health care, and they deserve full access to all of their options,” said Assemblywoman Autumn R. Burke. “AB 775 helps us uphold those hard-won rights and holds all licensed facilities accountable for providing quality care.”
“California has always been a leader in passing policies to ensure full reproductive health access to women,” said Janette Robinson Flint, PhD, Executive Director of Black Women for Wellness. “And while that is hugely important, I know we can do more to ensure that all women are able to exercise full reproductive autonomy. The Reproductive FACT act is a piece of legislation that takes us one step closer to full reproductive freedom. By ensuring women not only have access to reproductive health information free from coercion, and informing women of the full range of choices available to live healthy full lives regardless of, race, income or geographic location, we continue to actualize the ideas of reproductive justice.”
“We can all agree that women should have complete and accurate information when making time-sensitive decisions about their reproductive health,” said Amy Everitt, State Director for NARAL Pro-Choice California. “AB 775 makes sure anyone who seeks care at a clinic in California walks away knowing that the state will help her access affordable health care.”
AB 775 also helps address the public health threat posed by anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). NARAL Pro-Choice California conducted a year-long undercover investigation of CPCs, revealing a disturbing pattern of medical misinformation and manipulation of women. The results of the investigation can be found at www.cpclies.com.
“CPCs target women seeking abortion care with false advertising that misleads women into thinking they are comprehensive women’s health facilities. Instead, CPC workers are trained to lie to women to keep them from accessing contraception and abortion care. It’s time for California to take a stand against their deceptive practices, and AB 775 is an important step in fighting their campaign of misinformation.”
In February, a federal judge upheld a San Francisco ordinance prohibiting misleading advertising by crisis pregnancy centers, sponsored by Supervisor Malia Cohen. “CPCs have been an issue even in a progressive city like San Francisco,” said Supervisor Cohen. “That is why we took action locally to regulate their deceptive advertising practices. All women deserve to know the truth about their reproductive health care choices and I am proud to see that our local legislation helped lay the groundwork for ensuring women in California have access to truthful and complete information about their pregnancies.”
The Reproductive FACT Act is supported by ACT for Women and Girls, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists-District IX, American Nurses Association/California, California Association for Nurse Practitioners, California Church IMPACT, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, California Primary Care Association, California Women Lawyers, California Women’s Law Center, Forward Together, Fresno Barrios Unidos, League of Women Voters of California, Maternal and Child Health Access, Nevada County Citizens for Choice, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, National Abortion Federation, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Council of Jewish Women-California, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Western Methodist Justice Movement, Women’s Community Clinic and Women’s Health Specialists.
AB 775 will be heard in the Assembly Committee on Health on Tuesday, April 14th.