California's governor clearly embraces his rise as a dominant, resonating voice for Democratic states nationwide
As his wife stood behind him and held back tears, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday called the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade sickening and beckoned women in other states to California, their “sanctuary” for free abortion care.
Newsom clearly embraces his rise as a dominant, resonating voice for Democratic states nationwide and as a foil of governors such as Abbott and Ron DeSantis of Florida, whom he condemns as disciples of the hard-right, Donald Trump wing of the Republican Party. This month, Newsom joined Trump’s fledgling social media network, Truth Social, he said, to call out “Republican lies.
Twenty states, mostly along the West Coast and in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, have policies designed to protect the right to end a pregnancy. Another 20, primarily in the South and the interior West, are moving quickly to ban or severely restrict that right. In the remaining 10 states, abortion remains hotly contested.
“I think broadly, we need to expand and assist in expanding the number of healthcare providers who can help uphold reproductive rights, perform abortions and other procedures,” he said. The state is predicting a large influx of patients from Missouri, Indiana and other nearby states with strict abortion limits.
California, meanwhile, “is as affirming of abortion rights and reproductive rights as any state could be,” said Miller, a professor of state and local politics at Claremont McKenna College. The day after the May 24 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Newsom announced that he would back more than a dozen additional bills toThey include allowing the state Department of Justice, local governments and gun violence survivors to sue gun industry members for violating a “firearm industry standard of conduct.”
California was the first state to announce that it would require all public employees and healthcare workers to show proof of vaccination or be tested weekly. In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a law last year banning employers from firing workers who refuse a COVID-19 vaccination if those employees claim a medical or religious exemption.