California Bill to Protect Doctors Who Mail Abortion Pills

doctor of California People who mail abortion pills to people in other states will be protected from prosecution under new bill released Friday in state parliament.

The bill would not allow extradition to California of a doctor who is indicted in another state for providing abortion pills. It also eliminates the need for doctors to pay fines. Also, California doctors can sue people who try to stop abortions.

This bill only protects doctors located in California. A doctor is not protected if he leaves California to provide an abortion to someone in another state. Nor does it protect patients in other states who receive the drug.

State Senator Nancy Skinner, Democrat Berkeley The bill’s authors said her intention was that California residents traveling to other states or living there temporarily, like college students, could continue to have access to drugs that were legal in their home state. However, she acknowledged that the bill would apply to doctors in California who treat patients living in other states.

“This is essential health care,” said Skinner. “Our healthcare workers should be protected to treat patients regardless of where they are geographically.”

Massachusetts, New York, connecticutMaryland and Vermont have proposed or passed similar laws, according to Skinner’s office. We are blocking extradition at the same time as we are blocking subpoenas for

“Obviously, when a provider engages in telemedicine services with someone, they have to trust it, even if they ask where they are,” the General Assembly’s Reproductive Rights Caucus. “We’re not going to make health care providers the patient police, and we don’t want to have to do a survey every time we do telemedicine.”

Other states are trying to block the distribution of an abortion drug known as mifepristone. The attorney general of his 20 mostly Republican states has warned some of the nation’s largest pharmacy companies that they could face legal liability if they distribute pills in their states.

Idaho prohibits most abortions, including medical abortions. Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center, a group that opposes abortion rights, said California has a responsibility to extradite doctors who violate Idaho law.

“The arrogance of such a proposal is astonishing,” Konzatti said of Skinner’s bill. “This shows off the traditional relationships between states and would completely upend the federal system.”

Skinner’s bill goes beyond abortion. It also protects doctors who mail contraceptives and transgender-related drugs.

California already has laws that prohibit courts from enforcing out-of-state judgments against abortion providers and volunteers. That law was intended to protect doctors providing abortions to people traveling to California from other states. It is illegal because it violates a provision of the U.S. Constitution that states that “trust and credit must be given”.

Federal courts allow exceptions to that provision, including when the law of one state violates the “public policy” of another state. The Skinner Act declares it is public policy in California that doctors should not be charged for providing abortion drugs.

“We are very cautious,” said Skinner.

Abortion pills have been legal in the United States for over 20 years and can be used until the 10th week of pregnancy. A federal judge in Texas is considering revoking or suspending the drug’s approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which applies to all states, not just those that have banned abortion. .

Skinner’s bill is one of 17 bills Democrats have introduced in California this year to protect abortion rights, including proposals to improve access to contraceptives and protect patient privacy.

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Associated Press reporter Susan Haig in Hartford, Connecticut contributed to this report.