California legislature sends abortion access expansion bill to Governor’s desk
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Senate Bill 385 passed out of the full Assembly chamber on a 58-15 vote on Thursday and now awaits the Governor's signature to become law.
The bill previously passed the California State Senate on a 28-8 vote.
Senate Bill 385 would expand reproductive care training for physician's assistants in the state and clarify in statute that physician assistants may perform aspiration abortions without the direct supervision of a physician after a physician evaluates their clinical competency.
Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins was the author of the bill which is one of 17 proposed by the Legislative Women's Caucus in partnership with the California Future of Abortion Council earlier this year.
The bill would apply the same training standards to physician assistants that Senator Atkins' previous bill, SB 1375, established for nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives, which allowed them to provide first-trimester abortions within the scope of their clinical and professional training.
SB 1375 became law earlier this year and followed Senator Atkin's AB 154, which allowed qualifying advanced practice providers to offer first-trimester abortions. AB 154 became state law in 2013.
Last year, California voters approved a state constitutional amendment, SCA 10, which enshrined the right to abortion and contraceptives into the state's Constitution in November.
