Bill Text: CA SR55 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Relative to reproductive health

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-08-20 - Read. Adopted. (Ayes 24. Noes 10. Page 4659.) [SR55 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SR55-Amended.html

---

BILL NUMBER: SR 55	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 18, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 4, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Jackson
    (   Coauthors:   Senators   Leno
  and Monning   ) 

                        JULY 3, 2014

   Relative to reproductive health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
             HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST



   WHEREAS, The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) maintains that family planning is one of the 10 great public
health achievements of the 20th Century; and
   WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has previously recognized
in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)
505 U.S. 833, 856, that "  t]he ability of women to participate
equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been
facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives";
and
   WHEREAS, The United States Congress required health plans to cover
all Food and Drug Administration-approved methods of contraception
for women with no out-of-pocket costs as part of the federal Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), and nearly 30 million
 woman   women  across the United States
have already benefited from that provision; and
   WHEREAS, In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. (2014) 573 U.S.
____, the Supreme Court concluded that closely-held corporations
cannot be required to provide contraceptive coverage if the
corporations' owners have religious objections to the contraception;
and
   WHEREAS, Women generally have less disposable income to spend on
health care services because of the gender pay gap, the impact of the
decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. will place
additional financial burdens on women already facing the inequity of
wage discrimination; and
   WHEREAS, Nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers are women, the
impact of the decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. is
expected to fall more heavily on low-income women whose access to
health care is frequently limited; and
   WHEREAS, As noted in Justice  Ginsberg's  
Ginsburg's  dissent, the cost of an intrauterine device (IUD)
"is nearly equivalent to a month's full-time pay for workers earning
the minimum wage"; and
   WHEREAS, The lack of access to contraception leads to an increase
in unintended pregnancies; and
   WHEREAS, According to the CDC's National Center for Health
Statistics, more than 99 percent of women use birth control at some
point in their lives, and approximately 62 percent of all women of
reproductive age are currently using a contraceptive method; and
   WHEREAS, Contraceptive services can serve as a gateway for women
to enter the health care system and obtain preventive medical care;
and
   WHEREAS, "The exemption sought by Hobby Lobby . . . would deny
legions of women who do not hold their employers' beliefs access to
contraceptive coverage that the ACA would otherwise secure," as noted
in Justice  Ginsberg's   Ginsburg's 
dissent; and
   WHEREAS, Any decisions to use contraceptives should be made by a
woman in consultation with her health care providers and not her
employer; and
   WHEREAS, According to the Guttmacher Institute,  state
legislatures   State Legislatures  of the United
States introduced over 1,100 anti-choice, anti-women legislative
proposals in 2011, designed to place restrictions on women's health
care and erode protections for women and their families, including
restricting access to contraception, imposing invasive procedures to
impede a woman's choice, and allowing for-profit companies to
prohibit choice; and
   WHEREAS, It is the goal of some to deprive women of their
reproductive rights by using the argument of religious freedom and
ignoring women's health, which results in the disparate treatment of
women and undermines individual choice; and
   WHEREAS, There appears to be an organized strategy to upend
long-standing policy in the areas of contraceptive rights and health
care rights for women; and
   WHEREAS, California has always prioritized women's health care,
including passing the groundbreaking Women's Contraception Equity Act
in 1999, which requires employer-based health plans that cover a
variety  of  prescription drugs to also cover a variety of
prescription contraceptive methods; and
   WHEREAS, There is concern that corporations may attempt to misuse
the precedent set by Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. to unduly
restrict women's health care options or seek religious exemptions
from other generally applicable laws; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate
of the State of California recognizes the critical importance of a
continued commitment to reproductive health care and access; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Senate of the State of California urges the
United States  Senate to reconsider and approve 
Congress to pass and the President of the United States to sign
 Senate Bill 2578,  commonly  referred to as the Not My
Boss's Business Act, which would prevent employers from denying
coverage of contraceptives regardless of their religious views; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Senate of the State of California reaffirms
 its support of  the decision of Roe v. Wade (1973) 410 U.S.
113, which acknowledges that reproductive choice is a fundamental
right that belongs to all women; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States,
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from
California in the Congress of the United States, and to the author
for appropriate distribution.