Arizona Abortion Providers Could Get Special Licenses To Practice In California

A bill introduced in the California legislature Wednesday would allow abortion providers in Arizona to quickly obtain temporary medical licenses to practice in the Golden State ― an effort Democrats say is necessary to keep up with an influx of patients from states that have outlawed the procedure.

The proposal comes two weeks after the Supreme Court in Arizona, which shares much of its western border with California, ruled that a 160-year-old law criminalizing nearly all abortions can go into effect, overriding an existing 15-week ban.

Members of California’s Legislative Women’s Caucus and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) introduced the bill at a press conference Wednesday, explaining that Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes recently got in touch with her California counterpart, fellow Democrat Rob Bonta, about the idea.

“She had the courage to put out the call to neighboring states to support Arizona doctors and patients, and that’s what we are responding to,” state Sen. Nancy Skinner, bill author and caucus chair, said of Mayes.

The 1864 law resurrected in Arizona, she continued, originally passed when “women did not have the right to vote, and when it was legal for husbands to beat their wives.”

Later on Wednesday, lawmakers in the Arizona House voted to repeal that abortion ban, and now await a vote from the state Senate.

Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, which operates abortion clinics in California counties along the Arizona border, was already seeing 10% of its patients come from out of state. Now, Newsom said Wednesday, that figure is likely to rise.

“This Arizona law is the first border state law that will directly impact the state of California, and rather than just acknowledging that fate and future, we’re