As Supreme Court’s decision looms, California works to become sanctuary state for abortions

Individuals are protesting for equitable abortion access in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s potential reversal. Meanwhile, organizations are urging lawmakers to create funds to help Americans maintain abortion access should the precedent be overruled. Unsplash

On Dec. 1, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a Mississippi abortion ban case. The Mississippi law currently bans abortion after 15 weeks in the state. 

The ruling of the court poses a challenge to the future of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case which secures a woman’s right to an abortion. If the Supreme Court favors Mississippi in the trial over precedent, 26 states are likely to ban abortion — 12 of which already have trigger laws that would ensure this prohibition following a court decision.

Alysa Sides, a digital intern at Deeds Not Words, a women’s empowerment organization, told The Panther she fears if abortions are no longer protected by the Constitution, many already vulnerable Americans will struggle. 

 “Marginalized and disenfranchised people will be forced into decisions without any alternatives (like what abortion) could provide,” Sides said. “This dwindles down any career, political or general ambitions that one might have. There is no equality without abortion — in the workforce or elsewhere.”]

The Roe v. Wade ruling banned states from prohibiting abortions before the fetus was medically deemed viable. At the time, the law determined “viable” to mean around 23 to 24 weeks. 

"I'd like to focus on the 15-week ban, because that's not a dramatic departure from viability,” Chief Justice John Roberts said at the hearing. “It is the standard that the vast majority of other countries have.” 

However, many worry that the court siding with the 15-week ban would lead to upholding stricter bans, like the six-week abortion ban that just passed in Texas.

In anticipation that the court will strike down Roe V. Wade, states like California are taking steps to ensure that the abortion precudure remains legal in their state. Lawmakers in California are in the process of making the state a “sanctuary,” where abortion will be accessible to individuals from other states. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom also formed the California Future of Abortion Council (FAB Council) in October 2021. The FAB Council has recommended that lawmakers set funding aside to make travel to California for the procedure more affordable if Roe V. Wade is overturned. 

“(California) will be a sanctuary,” Newsom said in an interview with the Associated Press. “We are looking at ways to support that inevitability and looking at ways to expand our protections.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor also expressed fear that siding in favor of the 15-week ban would be in violation of the separation of church and state, which she views as fundamentally tethered to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

"The issue of when life begins has been hotly debated by philosophers since the beginning of time,” Sotomayor said to Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart at the Dec. 1 oral arguments. “It's still debated in religion. So when you say this is the only right that takes away from the state the ability to protect life, that's a religious view, isn't it?"

Jackson’s Women’s Health Clinic, the defendant in the supreme court case, is currently the sole clinic to provide abortion in Mississippi. The Pinkhouse Defenders is an organization that was founded to escort individuals seeking abortions safely to the clinic from their cars in response to the anti-abortion protestors who frequent the clinic’s exterior. 

Kim Gibson, the organization’s founder said she feels the country is at a defining moment in the movement for reproductive rights. 

“We are now standing on the edge of the cliff,” Gibson said. “One more shove, and it's all over. Ourselves, along with other small (reproductive organizations)  have had enough.”

The Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) is legislation that proposes to protect the right to access abortion throughout the United States. More specifically, WHPA would create safeguards against any bans states may attempt to pass. 

The legislation has already gained allies from both democrats and republicans. Most recently, Republican Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), revealed her support for the legislation in an email sent out by a spokesperson from Collins’ office. 

The official website created to promote the bill describes WHPA as putting “health, equity, and the right to access abortion above politics.”