California’s Senate passed a bill on Friday that would require state university to offer abortion medication to students starting in 2023. California Governor Gavin Newsom is currently reviewing the bill as it awaits his signature before becoming law.
Specifically, the bill affirms that the state has an interest in ensuring that women have access to an abortion if they so choose. Referencing the University of California or the California State University, each public university’s student health care clinic must offer abortion by medication techniques.
In order to fund the new requirement, the bill states that the new requirement will not be implemented unless at least $10,290,000 in private money is raised. Additionally, funding may come from “nonstate entities, including, but not necessarily limited to, private sector entities and local and federal government agencies.”
During California’s 2017-2018 legislative session, a similar bill, SB 320, attempted to enforce the same requirements. Then-governor Jerry Brown vetoed the legislation. At the time, Newsom stated he would have decided differently. As a result, Newsom is expected to sign the bill into law.