Bill Text: CA AB657 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Bill 657 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Healing arts: expedited licensure process: applicants providing abortions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 560, Statutes of 2022. [AB657 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB657-Chaptered.html

Assembly Bill No. 657

CHAPTER 560

An act to add Chapter 1.2 (commencing with Section 870) to Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts.

[ Approved by Governor September 27, 2022. Filed with Secretary of State September 27, 2022. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 657, Cooper. Healing arts: expedited licensure process: applicants providing abortions.

Existing law, the Medical Practice Act, establishes the Medical Board of California to license and regulate the practice of medicine. The Osteopathic Act establishes the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to enforce those provisions of the Medical Practice Act relating to persons holding or applying for physician’s and surgeon’s certificates issued by the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. The Nursing Practice Act establishes the Board of Registered Nursing to license and regulate the practice of nursing. The Physician Assistant Practice Act establishes the Physician Assistant Board to license and regulate physician assistants. Existing law makes it a crime to perform an abortion without holding a license to practice as a physician and surgeon or holding a specified license or certificate under the Nursing Practice Act or Physician Assistant Practice Act that authorizes the holder to perform specified functions necessary for an abortion.

This bill would require the Medical Board of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, the Board of Registered Nursing, and the Physician Assistant Board to expedite the licensure process of an applicant who can demonstrate that they intend to provide abortions within their scope of practice and would specify the documentation an applicant would be required to provide to demonstrate their intent. The bill would set forth legislative findings and declarations relating to the bill’s provisions.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(a) Nearly one in four women in the United States are expected to get an abortion at some point in their lives, according to a 2017 study.

(b) Fifty-eight percent of women of reproductive age, approximately 40 million women, live in states that are hostile to abortion.

(c) When Texas enacted its six-week ban on abortion last year, some residents began to get abortions out of state, and in the final four months of last year, Planned Parenthood clinics in states near Texas reported a nearly 800 percent increase in abortion patients from Texas compared to the same period in the prior year.

(d) If our state’s abortion provider network is to provide timely care to California patients and absorb any significant portion of the increase in out-of-state patients projected now that the United States Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, California must take steps now to ensure the growth of a network of clinicians trained in abortion and sexual and reproductive health care. These clinicians must reflect California’s diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic communities and patients and be equipped to meet the reproductive health needs of all people in California.

(e) The Guttmacher Institute estimates that 46,000 women between the ages of 15 and 49 drive to California for abortion care, and has determined that 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. If all 26 of those states prohibit abortion at any point during pregnancy, the number of women of reproductive age who drive to California for abortion care may increase to 1.4 million women, a potential increase of 2,923 percent.

(f) Even in the state with the best abortion protections in the country, abortions have long been inaccessible for many, especially those living in rural, conservative areas. Forty percent of California counties have no clinics providing abortions. Many people still have to travel far to get the appropriate care, or struggle to afford abortions, and language barriers and a lack of up-to-date information can make it difficult to find help.

SEC. 2.

Chapter 1.2 (commencing with Section 870) is added to Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:

CHAPTER 1.2. Expedited licensure process

870.

(a) The Medical Board of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, the Board of Registered Nursing, and the Physician Assistant Board shall expedite the licensure process for an applicant who demonstrates that they intend to provide abortions, as defined in Section 123464 of the Health and Safety Code, within the scope of practice of their license.

(b) An applicant shall demonstrate their intent to provide abortions by providing a letter declaring the applicant’s intention to provide abortions and a letter from an employer or health care entity indicating that the applicant has accepted employment or entered into a contract to provide abortions, the applicant’s starting date, the location where the applicant will be providing abortions, and that the applicant will be providing abortions within the scope of practice of their license in accordance with Sections 2253, 2725.4, and 3502.4, as applicable.

(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as changing existing licensure requirements. An applicant applying for expedited licensure under subdivision (a) shall meet all applicable statutory and regulatory licensure requirements.