Bill Text: CA AB2586 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Reproductive and sexual health inequities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2022-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 564, Statutes of 2022. [AB2586 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB2586-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Senate
August 24, 2022 |
Amended
IN
Senate
June 09, 2022 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 21, 2022 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 06, 2022 |
Introduced by Assembly Members Cristina Garcia and Luz Rivas (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Gipson) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bennett, Jones-Sawyer, and Kalra) |
February 18, 2022 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a)The State Department of Public Health shall convene a working group to examine the root causes of the reproductive health and sexual health inequities in the state.
(b)The working group shall include appropriate health and human services health care officials and representatives from appropriate public health departments, reproductive justice organizations, organizations that provide reproductive and sexual health services, community-based organizations that provide medically accurate, culturally congruent reproductive health and sexual health education, organizations serving communities that are disproportionately impacted by adverse reproductive health and
sexual health outcomes, health care providers that specialize in reproductive health care, including physicians specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, and researchers from public and private universities. Members of communities disproportionately impacted by reproductive and sexual health inequities shall be invited to join and participate as members of the workgroup. The working group may consult with other individuals, groups, or organizations for additional insight or expertise on issues under consideration
by the working group.
(c)On or before January 1, 2024, the working group shall submit a report to the Legislature with recommendations of how to
meaningfully address and eliminate reproductive health and sexual health inequities. The recommendations shall cover all of the following topics:
(1)Barriers to abortion access and contraception, including intersectional issues such as housing and other economic issues.
(2)Barriers to assisted reproductive technology and causes of infertility.
(3)How to decrease sexually transmitted infection disparities.
(4)Inequities in access or outcomes for people who identify as members of disproportionately impacted groups, including all of the following:
(A)Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
(B)Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and questioning.
(C)Young people 12 to 17 years of age, inclusive.
(D)Foster youth.
(E)Immigrants.
(F)People with disabilities.
(d)The report submitted pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(e)For purposes of this section and Section 141:
(1)“Community-based organization” means a public or private not-for-profit organization that provides education, resources, or services and is representative of a disparately impacted community or significant segments of a community or has demonstrated status as a trusted part of the community that it serves.
(2)“Culturally congruent education” means education that takes account of the cultural beliefs, values, norms, patterns, way of life, or practices of the target audience to provide appropriate and meaningful education. Cultural congruent education and outreach fits a person’s or community’s lifestyle, values, and systems of meaning. It requires acknowledgment, respect, and adaptation of information to the cultural needs of the communities served. Additionally, it contemplates sociocultural and situational factors into education.
(3)“Medically accurate” means factual information, verified or supported by research conducted in compliance with scientific methods, published in peer-reviewed journals, if appropriate, and recognized as accurate and objective by the relevant professional organizations.
(4)“Racial equity” means the condition achieved when race can no longer be used to predict life outcomes and when conditions for all groups are improved. Racial equity includes transforming the behaviors, institutions, and systems that harm disparately impacted communities, including by increasing access to power, redistributing and providing additional resources, and eliminating barriers to opportunity, in order to empower Black, Indigenous, and communities of color to thrive and realize their full potential.
(5)“Reproductive health” means the state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. “Reproductive health” implies that a person is able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so.
(6)“Reproductive justice” means the human right to control our sexuality, our gender, our work, and our reproduction, which can only be achieved when all people, particularly women and girls, have the complete economic, social, and political power and resources to make healthy decisions about their bodies, their families, and their communities in all areas of their lives. At the core of “reproductive justice” is the belief that all people have the right to have children, the right to not have children, and the right to parent the children they have with dignity and respect, in safe and sustainable communities.
(7)“Sexual health” means the state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being in relation to sexuality, and not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction, or infirmity. “Sexual health” requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination, and violence.