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Christians must diligently pray that those who are spiritually lost and blind in California, including Gov. Newsom, will wake up, repent, and begin to value and protect — rather than dehumanize — these precious babies.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, this week signed 13 pro-abortion bills into law, including legislation that uses taxpayer funding to provide abortions, allows self-managed abortions, and incentivizes healthcare students to become abortionists.
Over the last year, California has attempted to position itself as the most pro-abortion state in America. After the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court resulted in abortion regulation being returned to the states, California doubled down, announcing its desire to become both a haven and a benefactor for out-of-state women seeking abortions.
Upon signing these latest bills, Newsom touted California’s commitment to abortion while taking aim at states with pro-life laws.
“An alarming number of states continue to outlaw abortion and criminalize women, and it’s more important than ever to fight like hell for those who need these essential services,” Newsom said. “Our Legislature has been on the frontlines of this fight, and no other legislative body in the country is doing more to protect these fundamental rights — I’m proud to stand with them again and sign these critical bills into law.”
Many of the laws came from the California Future of Abortion Council, a 46-member coalition of pro-abortion groups which Newsom convened. Among other things, these laws will
Newsom also signed laws preventing law enforcement and tech companies in California from cooperating in other states’ investigations of those who violate their abortion laws.
Earlier this year, the governor signed laws that do away with cost-sharing for abortion services and civil liability for providing, aiding, or receiving abortion care in the state.
California Family Council President Jonathan Keller said his group is “investigating which of these laws are ripe for a court challenge.” Keller said they are most concerned about the fund helping pay for women to travel to California to receive an abortion.
Newson is “not inviting [women] to get a state-paid trip for labor and delivery if they live in a county or state with poor maternal mortality,” Keller said. “Instead [he’s] saying you can come here on the taxpayers’ dime, but only if it is to end your pregnancy.”
Abortion stakeholders celebrated the laws. Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said,
“It’s been a long year of a lot of hard work. You could see a lot of emotion and pride…. It is certainly by design that we are leading in this effort and backing up our values…. It really took everyone coming together to design this collection of bills to become a reproductive freedom state and beacon of hope.”
The only abortion bill Newsom vetoed was one which would have created a taxpayer-funded program to increase abortions in five counties, citing “lower than expected revenues.”
In November, voters will have a say as to whether the government can impose any limits at all on abortion. Currently, the state still has a restriction on abortion after the point of viability (effectively, the Roe standard of 24 weeks). Proposition 1, which will be on the ballot, would remove the viability restriction altogether, thereby allowing women to obtain an abortion up to the moment of birth.
Proposition 1 says,
“The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”
Pro-life advocates note that the wording is deceptive because it doesn’t explicitly state that abortion would be legal through all 40 weeks of pregnancy nor does it say that partial-birth abortion would be a routine procedure available in California if the amendment passes.
Lila Rose, founder and president of Live Action, lamented the horror Gov. Newsom and the pro-abortion legislature is inflicting on California and called on pro-life supporters to fight to defeat Proposition 1. She tweeted: “Newsom is destroying my beautiful state, fighting daily to make it a more hostile and violent place for life. If you live in California, it’s critical you vote NO on Proposition 1 November 8th to make abortion an absolute constitutional right in the state.”
California’s leaders have made it clear that they want as much abortion as possible, and no one has been more proactive in enabling this than Gov. Gavin Newsom. Most recently, he had billboards put up in pro-life states that cited Christ’s command to “love your neighbor” (Mark 12:31) in a twisted attempt to justify abortion and encourage women to travel to his state for an abortion. What’s more, he has continued to support the undermining of other states’ laws and the decriminalization of abortion.
Abortion advocates depict children as a burden and a substantial risk to a woman’s life and health. While there can be difficulties in parenting and in childbirth, the Bible makes it clear that children are a gift. Psalm 127:3-5 says,
“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.”
California’s leaders want to take the state and its residents down a road of destruction, death, and judgment — but the California people can try to tap the brakes on this horror show by voting “no” on Proposition 1 to at least retain a ban on third-trimester abortions. Assuming voters pay attention and aren’t tricked by the vague wording, there is hope that Californians will reject the so-called “birthday abortion” amendment.
“Sane and compassionate people never want to see children torn from their mothers, limb by limb, moments before birth,” Pastor Jack Hibbs asserted recently, and a Rasmussen survey bears that belief out, finding that 79 percent of likely voters in California are against late-term abortions.
Christians must continue to obey God by showing the world that children — God’s image bearers — are a gift and a blessing. And we must diligently pray that those who are spiritually lost and blind in California, including Gov. Newsom, will wake up, repent, and begin to value and protect — rather than dehumanize — these precious babies.
Ready to dive deeper into the intersection of faith and policy? Head over to our Theology of Politics series page where we’ve published several long-form pieces that will help Christians navigate where their faith should direct them on political issues.
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