California: History of “Progressive” Views

California is always seen as a progressive mixing pot of cultures, from anti-gun laws to abortion, but how much of our perception of the state is true? Did you know that the first anti-gun laws in California were an attempt to hinder Black Panther activists?[1] At California’s inception in 1850, abortion was outlawed.[2] This was then changed over a century later, in the People vs. Ballard decision in 1959, and even then that was only when the mother’s life was at risk.[2] This kicked off many drafts of legislation which allowed abortion to different degrees, most died in committees.[2] The Therapeutic Abortion Act was “reluctantly” signed by Reagan, the California governor at the time, 1967.[2] He made comparisons of the bill to mass genocides, specifically Hitler and “what (he) tried to do.”[2]

However, even with this pushback, the act was signed, allowing California women to get an abortion, which is considered one of the first pro-choice bills pre-Roe v. Wade. It’s interesting how, once Reagan was elected as president in the 1980’s after Roe v. Wade was passed, he tried to promise a human life amendment.[3] This ‘human life amendment’ is also known as the Hogan-Helms amendment.[4] Said amendment defined the fetus as an individual at the ‘moment of conception.’[4] There were many issues found with this amendment, so it was not put into action.[4] Some of these issues included defining ‘moment of conception,’ the cost of abortions rising, and “chaos” caused by the disregard that the amendment held for the constitution and precedent.[4] His signing the Therapeutic Abortion Act led to a surge of abortions in California, and is one of the only pieces of legislation that Reagan openly regretted signing.[5]

It was this switch in anti-abortion views that allowed Reagan to gain the following he needed in order to win the presidential election.[12] However, it was because of his signing of the act in 1967 that made anti-abortion activists hesitant to support him, instead attacking him with other “pro-choice” colleagues, such as Kennedy and Carter.[12] This view changed with more campaigning, one of his oppositionists in 1976 stating, “Well, Reagan isn’t perfect, but he’s electable.”[12]

Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, Prop. 1 has been signed into California’s state constitution, which continues to protect the rights to abortion and contraception for all Californian women.[6] However, one thing to note is that minors must get parental consent from guardians in order to receive an abortion, this has been the case for some time and has not been repealed.[6]

In addition to this exception, there was also opposition to Prop .1 before it was even signed. [7] Specifically, the argument made by CaliforniaTogether, is that taxes would go up to help pay for the abortions of women in other states, most likely Arizona.[7] However, this was misinformation used to gain opposition to the bill.[7] We know this because the fiscal impact of the bill is defined by the bill itself.[8] The strain it would put on Californians’ taxes? Zero.[8]

Prop .1 passed with the help of Shannon Udovic-Constant, M.D. of the Chair of Calfornia’s Medical Association.[13] She spoke out in support of the legislation stating, “California has a long history of protecting and defending reproductive health care rights, and by reaffirming our basic and fundamental principle that women should be able to get the health care they need, our state is once again leading the way.”[13]

There are three overarching moral views when concerning the fetus, two of which are on opposite sides of the spectrum, and one that falls somewhere in the middle. The first, being that the fetus has all the rights that we as people hold, and is considered a different being from the mother.[9] The second other extreme is that the fetus holds no rights until birth.[9] The third, which falls in the middle, is referred to as “gestation.” Gestation means the process or period of developing inside the womb between conception and birth.[9] When this is considered under the lens of moral rights, the fetus gains rights as gestation furthers.[9] This, surprisingly, is where California falls, due to how effective the abortion would be.[6] California legislation doesn’t necessarily consider the moral rights of the fetus, rather the health of the mother.[6]

Now, where does Prop .1 fit into all of this? It’s actually quite interesting, prior to Prop .1 and the overturning of Roe v. Wade women in California could get an abortion as late as around twenty-four weeks, unless there was a health issue with the mother.[10] Many politicians that opposed Prop .1 stated (falsely) that it would allow women in California, and those that fled there, to get abortions before the baby was born at any time.[8] This was a part of their argument in order to allow them to try and kill the bill, which, fortunately for Californian women, and women across the country, did not work.[8]

This brings us to restrictive legislation in other states, specifically those that would criminalize women fleeing to other states to receive abortions. While no state has passed a bill restricting this travel, there have been many that have already attempted to criminalize getting an abortion in a different state.[11] One of these states is Missouri, which has a bill “pending” passage.[11] Thankfully, there is precedent against this law being put into place, specifically the case of Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts in 1985.[11] The decision was based upon the idea that yes, states can persecute citizens as long as the deed was punishable in both states, not just one or the other.[11] This, in terms of abortion, would make California a haven state for all women seeking abortions if the supreme court were to stick with the precedent of their past decisions. However, they overturned Roe v. Wade, so there’s no telling what their opinions are as of late. 

Alexandra West

Works Cited

[1] Vankin, Johnathan. “California Gun Control: How Ronald Reagan and the Black Panthers Started a Movement.” Statewide. Accessed April 10, 2023. https://californialocal.com/localnews/statewide/ca/article/show/4412-california-gun-control-reagan-black-panthers/.

[2] Pender, Caelyn. “From Illegal to haven state: how CA abortion laws have changed from 1850 to today.” KRON4. Accessed April 10, 2023. https://www.kron4.com/news/from-illegal-to-haven-state-how-ca-abortion-laws-have-changed-from-1850-to-today/.

[3] Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Museum. “Proclamation 5671: National Sanctity of Human Life Day.” January 14, 1988. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/proclamation-5761-national-sanctity-human-life-day-1988. Accessed April 12, 2023. 

[4] Pilpel, H.F.. “The Fetus as a person: Possible legal consequences of the Hogan Helms amendment.” National Library of Medicine. 1974. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4459148/. Accessed April 13, 2023. 

[5] Barnes, Fred. “Ronald Reagan: Father of the Pro-Life movement.” Washington Journal. Published November 6, 2003. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106808204063174300. Accessed April 12, 2023. 

[6] Center for Reproductive Rights. “California Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe.” Accessed April 10, 2023. https://reproductiverights.org/maps/state/california/.

[7] Bluth, Rachel. “Opponents of California’s Abortion Rights Measure Mislead on Expense to Taxpayers.” CaliforniaHealthline. Published September 21, 2022. https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/california-abortion-constitution-influx-fact-check/. Accessed April 12, 2023. 

[8] Prop. 1. “Constitutional Right to Reproductive Freedom.” Put on the ballot by the legislature. https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/1. Accessed April 12, 2023. 

[9] Paediatr, J. “Moral Status of the Fetus: Fetal Rights or maternal autonomy?” Child Health. Volume 39, published 2003, 58-59. 

[10] Koseff, Alexei. “Would Prop. 1 allow abortions after fetal viability? Legal experts say no.” CalMatters. https://calmatters.org/politics/election-2022/2022/10/california-abortion-law-prop-1/. Accessed April 14, 2023. 

[11] Jacobson, Louis. “Can states punish women for traveling out of state to get an abortion?” Poynter. https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/can-states-punish-women-for-traveling-out-of-state-to-get-an-abortion/. Accessed April 15, 2023. 

[12] Reid, T.R.. “Reagan is Favored by Anti-Abortionists.” Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/04/12/reagan-is-favored-by-anti-abortionists/f89c94bf-4e00-4674-b91c-c1f10a6aea15/. Published April 12, 1980. Accessed April 20, 2023.

[13] Udovic-Constant, Shannon. “CMA Board Chair issues statement in support of Prop .1 to enshrine the right to reproductive freedom in CA.”https://www.cmadocs.org/newsroom/news/view/ArticleId/49817/CMA-board-chair-issues-statement-in-support-of-Prop-1-to-enshrine-the-right-to-reproductive-freedom-in-CA. Published on July 7, 2022. Accessed April 20, 2023.