Last month, shocking news came out that California was looking to legalize infanticide. It's not an exaggeration, as an amended version of the bill's text still reads that "Notwithstanding any other law, a person shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability or penalty, or otherwise deprived of their rights under this article, based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death due to a pregnancy-related cause." As pro-abortion and pro-infanticide as the state's elected officials may be, there are many pro-life forces fighting against such legislation in the state.
Pro-lifers gathered in Sacramento on April 19, as Joan Frawley Desmond highlighted for the National Catholic Register. A major focus of reporting highlighted pro-life activists taking issue with the language that could open the state up to decriminalizing infanticide. The bill's text has been amended, with California Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland being cited as emphasizing as much.
To pro-life activists, however, it's not enough. From Desmond's coverage:
But Kathleen Domingo, the executive director of the California Catholic Conference, told the Register that the conference would still oppose the bill until its concerns were addressed.
“We truly believe that Assembly Member Wicks does not intend to have this law open the door to infanticide,” said Domingo. “At the same time, we have offered her numerous options for language changes, and she remains convinced that the language in the amended bill is sufficient to close the door on infanticide.”
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The bill does not define “perinatal death.” But in response to objections raised by the California Catholic Conference and other groups, Wicks amended the bill to read, “perinatal death due to a pregnancy-related cause,” language pro-lifers say is too vague.
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“Wicks is trying to carve out this space where women should not be held accountable for any action” that involves the “pregnancy-related” death of their child, said Domingo.
“‘Perinatal death’ was reportedly included in the bill to protect a woman in cases where,” for example, “she might have been told to be on bed rest and maybe she couldn’t take time off from work,” and then the baby dies after birth.
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The bill, AB 2223, passed the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday with a vote of 11-3.
Desmond also highlighted other legislation designed to make California, the nation's most populous state and one of the least pro-life states, even more pro-abortion, in response to pro-life laws being passed elsewhere across the country, and with the U.S. Supreme Court potentially set to overturn Roe v. Wade in the coming months. Madeline addressed some of the bills in California in her coverage, also from last month.
Such legislation includes using taxpayer funds to offer scholarships for training abortionists. Another, signed into law in March, offers free or low-cost abortions for women who seek it, as well as defrays the costs for women coming from out-of-state to have their abortion. California very much seeks to make itself an abortion hub.
According to Desmond, the bill has assistance from the California Future of Abortion Council, which was created by and has involvement from Gavin Newsom, the state's pro-abortion Democratic governor.
As Madeline covered in December to do with the council's formation, Newsom referred to California as a "sanctuary" and said they are "looking at ways to expand our protections."
When it comes to amending the problematic language, Craig Bannister reported for CNS News on Friday that "California’s ‘Infanticide Bill’ Isn’t Fixed by Latest Amendments, Legal Experts and Pro-Life Groups Warn."
As I highlighted in previous coverage last month, support for late-term abortion and even infanticide has been a position of major figures in the Democratic Party for some time now.
Pro-life activists can be forgiven for being concerned that such legislation could very well lead to babies being left to die or even being actively killed with the abortion industry's track record, as well as the track record of the Democratic Party when it comes to letting it happen.
In a 2019 column for Townhall, I covered how the U.S. Senate failed to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, offered by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE), as it not only failed to pass by unanimous consent, but also failed to overcome the filibuster. It similarly failed in 2020. Kamala Harris, now the vice president who was a senator for California at the time and has been another particularly vocal pro-abortion figure, voted against it.
To this day, the bill has not been able to receive a vote in the Democratically-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, thanks to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is often flagrantly touting her Catholic faith despite being so openly pro-abortion. Republicans have been trying for years to get the bill up for a vote thanks to the discharge petition process.
Democratic governors have also vetoed such bills protecting infants born alive that have come across their desks.
We went from Whitney Houston "I believe the children are our future..." to Hannibal Lecter "F them kids...chop up their bodies and sell them" in short time. You can't have human floushing promoting the death of the innocent. pic.twitter.com/lD8PzdUKHl
— The Chocolate Knox (@Chocolate_Knox) April 22, 2022
Though there is a significant outcry from pro-lifers making their voices heard about the pro-abortion and pro-infanticide direction that California is going in, support for such legislation in California looks to be a culture as well as a political issue. Video footage emerged this week of people callously supporting abortion at all costs.
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