2003 Legislation Information

Know Your Legislators  |  2000 Legislative Information  |  2001 Legislative Information  | 2002 Legislative Information  |  2003 Legislative Information  | Taxpayer Funded Abortions 

September 26, 2003
(This year of the legislative session ended on September 12.) 

(For information about federal legislation and congressional voting records, please visit National Right to Life Committee's Legislative Action Center at www.nrlc.org.)

Life-Related Proposals—California Legislature—2003

Anti-Life Legislation 

Roe v. Wade

AJR 2—Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson—The California Assembly "celebrated" 42 million abortions under 30 years of Roe v. Wade through this a non-binding resolution, which garnered 54 Assembly and Senate co-authors.  It will be sent to the President and members of Congress, asking them to uphold Roe v. Wade and to "encourage all Americans to participate in the national celebration, 'Celebrating 30 Years of Roe v. Wade.' " AJR 2 passed the Assembly on January 21, 47-22, with 2 Republican votes, Lynn Daucher, AD 72, and Keith Richman, AD 38, and with 4 pro-life members abstaining-- Guy Houston, AD 15, Abel Maldonado, AD 33, Robert Pacheco, AD 60, and Bonnie Garcia, AD 80.   (Pat Bates and George Plescia were officially absent.)  There is good information that Republican leadership suggested that legislators in marginal districts might not want to vote on this resolution.  It is CPLC”s view that it should have been an easy vote to oppose the "celebration" of more than 42 million deaths of the innocent unborn.  On March 20, this resolution was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was taken up on 10, and passed on a 4-1 vote, Democrats supporting, and only Republican Dick Ackerman (SD 33) opposing.  On June 16, AJR 2 passed on the Senate floor by a vote of 22-13, with Senator Bruce McPherson of Santa Cruz, being the only Republican to vote for it.. A resolution does not require the Governor's signature.

Cloning  

AB 267—Assemblyman Gene Mullin—AB 267 would have removed one of two definitions of human cloning, which were a part of the phony ban on human cloning passed by the California Legislature last year (SB 1230—Senator Dede Alpert).  The definition remaining (which is current law) appears to give the green light to allow cloned human embryos to be grown to the eight-week stage (when the embryo technically becomes a fetus) before requiring his or her destruction.  If not prevented by the Department of Health Services regulations, this will allow the harvesting of, not only stem cells, but specific organs for use in research or experimentation—in any case, killing the donor embryo in the process.  AB 267 was set for a May 6 hearing in the Assembly Committee on Health, but it was removed from the agenda by the author.

Sen. Deborah Ortiz Promotes Destructive Embryonic Stem Cell Research

SB 322-- establishes a Human Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee within the Department of Health Services, which will issue guidelines for human embryo stem cell research projects.  Signed by the Governor on September 24.

SB 771--  creates an anonymous registry of human embryos for donation for destructive research within the Department of Health Services to the extent that private or other non-state funds are available.  SB 771 establishes the first state-sanctioned virtual embryo plantation for the use of human embryos in fatal research.  Signed by the Governor on September 24.

SB 778-- would have created the Biomedical Research and Development Act of 2003, and authorized the issuance of bonds for biomedical research with the affirmative vote of the people.  SB 778 died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

All three of these bills passed out of the Senate Committee on Health & Human Services on April 23rd, with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing.  The Senate Appropriations Committee placed all three on the "suspense file" on May 19.  SB 778 was "held under submission,"  thus remains on the "suspense file," which means it is dead for the session.  SB 322 and SB 771 both passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 29 on votes of 8-5 and passed on the Senate floor on June 4, 22-14.   The Assembly Health Committee passed them on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on July 8 with a 16-7 vote.  At the hearing in Appropriations Committee on August 20, SB 322 and SB 771 were placed on the "suspense file," but passed out of the Committee on August 29.  SB 771 passed in the Assembly on September 8, 50-29, and SB 322 on September 9, 49-28.  SB 322 had to go back to the Senate for concurrence in some minor amendments added in the Assembly, and passed the Senate for the 2nd time on September 11, 23-14. Governor Davis signed both SB 322 and SB 771 on September 24.     

Codification of four teenage pregnancy programs.

AB 561-- Assemblywomen Sally Lieber and Judy Chu-- AB 561 passed the Assembly as a natural resources bill dealing with timber harvests.  In the Senate it was gutted and amended to put into California statutes four teen pregnancy programs, The Male Involvement Program, The Community Challenge Grants Program, The TeenSMART Program, and The Information and Education Program.  Several of these programs are notorious for their collusion with the abortion industry, and through their counseling programs refer teens to agencies that perform abortions and deliver other reproductive health care-- all without the knowledge or consent of their parents.  AB 561 passed the Senate on August 27, 23-14, with only Democrat votes.  Assembly Republicans forced Democrats to hold a hurry-up Assembly Health Committee meeting off the floor of the Assembly rather than concurring in the drastic Senate amendments.  The Health Committee approved it on September 9, 16-7, and it passed the Assembly  on September 10, 50-27.  It is now on the Governor's desk.

Hospice Expansion (Our "oppose" position was removed due to the author's amendments.)

AB 1299-- Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher-- AB 1299 as introduced, would have expanded hospice services to those who are not terminally ill-- those who may have an "incurable progressive illness,"  which could include patients with Alzheimers, diabetes, disabilities, etc.  It passed the Assembly Health Committee on May 9, 24-1 with only Assembly member Haynes opposing.  On May 28, it was amended by the author as it was voted out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a 24-0 vote.  Assemblywoman Daucher had accepted our request to remove the "incurable progressive illness" language and restore the language accommodating only the terminally ill. Before it went to the Assembly floor, similar language in the "Standards for Quality Hospice Care, 2002," which are referenced in AB 1299, was also restored to encompass only the terminally ill, so it passed the Assembly 75-1 on June 5.   It was scheduled to be considered in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on July 9, but the hearing was canceled by the author, and the bill is now considered a two-year bill.  It will be taken up again in January in the Senate.

Could Naturopathic Practitioners Soon be Allowed to do Drug-Induced Abortions?

SB 907-- Senator John Burton-- SB 907 sets up a conflict within the statutes that may allow naturopathic "doctors" to do drug-induced abortions.  The bill establishes the Naturopathic Doctors Act.  In one section of the bill (Section 3642, which is current law), "A naturopathic doctor may not . . . (e) [p]erform an abortion."  However, a new section 3640 (d) assigns the same authority for prescribing drugs as nurse practitioners have in Section 2836.1.  Last year, the passage of SB 1301, Sheila Kuehl's Reproductive Privacy Act, gave nurse practitioners, and any others who have this prescriptive authority, permission to commit drug-induced abortions.  SB 907 passed the Senate 21-13 on May 22nd, and was approved by the Assembly on August 28, 62-9.  The Senate concurred in Assembly amendments on September 2, 26-12.  It was signed by the Governor on September 22..

Socialized Medicine

SB 921-- Senator Sheila Kuehl-- SB 921 as introduced would have established a statewide single-payer health care program.  It passed in the Senate Insurance Committee on April 30th, with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing.  On May 22 the Appropriations Committee placed it on the "suspense file," and it passed out of the Appropriations Committee on 5/29 on an 8-5 vote.  It was amended on June 3rd to declare that it is "the intent of the Legislature to implement a single payer universal health care delivery system in California."  With that major amendment, it passed on the Senate floor on June 4 on a 23-14 vote.  Now before it goes to the Assembly Health Committee it has again been restored to a single-payer health care program, establishing the California Health Care System and the California Health Care Agency!  It was scheduled for a hearing on July 8, but the hearing was canceled at the request of the author.  It is now a two-year bill, and will be taken up again in January in the Assembly.

Pro-Life Legislation 

Cloning  

SB 133—Senator Jim Battin—Total ban on human cloning.  SB 133 would have adopted the comprehensive language necessary to ban all human cloning which was passed by the U. S. House of Representatives on July 31, 2001.  SB 133 was referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committees.  The Senate Health and Human Services Committee rejected SB 133 on April 23rd, with Republicans supporting and Democrats opposing.  Current California law allows human cloning, as long as every cloned human embryo is destroyed rather than nurtured.

Safe Surrender of Newborns

SB 139—Senator Jim Brulte— SB 139 offers helpful technical amendments to the Safe Arms for Newborns statute successfully authored by Senator Brulte in 2000.  The original bill allows for surrender of a baby up to 72 hours old with anonymity and without fear of prosecution for abandonment.  SB 139 would allow for safe surrender of the child to sites as designated by county boards of supervisors, rather than to designated individuals at the sites; and requires that safe-surrender sites post signs informing the public of this confidential option.  SB 139 passed 7-0 in the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 29, bypassed the Senate Appropriations Committee, and passed on the floor of the Senate 37-0 on May 22.  It passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee on June 10, 6-0, the Assembly Judiciary Committee on June 17, 13-0, and the Assembly Appropriations Committee on July 2nd, 23-0.  The Assembly considered and passed it 75-0 on July 10 on the consent calendar.  The Senate concurred in amendments that had been added in the Assembly on July 21, 35-0.  It was signed by Governor Davis on July 31st. 

Parental Consent for Release from School

AB 1041-- Assemblywoman Sharon Runner-- AB 1041 would have required parental consent prior to releasing a student from school.  Many school districts allow students to be released without parental permission for confidential medical appointments.  AB 1041 was referred to the Assembly Committee on Education, where it was rejected on April 23rd-- Republicans supporting (George Plescia, Bonnie Garcia, and Mark Wyland), and Democrats opposing (Jackie Goldberg, Rebecca Cohn, Manny Diaz, Loni Hancock, Carol Liu, Gene Mullin, Fran Pavley, and Sarah Reyes).

Mandated Reporters of Statutory Rape

SB 250-- Senator Jim Battin-- SB 250 would have required that receptionists, support staff, administrative employees or volunteers of agencies that provide health care would be included among those who by law must report reasonably suspected child abuse and neglect.  SB 250 failed in the Senate Health & Human Services Committee on March 26 on a vote of 2-5, with Republican Senators Aanestad and Battin supporting and Democrat Senators Deborah Ortiz, Dean Flores, Sheila Kuehl, Gloria Romero and John Vasconcellos opposing.  It was granted re-consideration and has been amended to instead provide criminal penalties for the failure of a mandated reporter to report or to encourage others not to report child abuse and neglect.  SB 250 was sent to Senate Public Safety Committee where it was rejected on April 29, Republicans Bruce McPherson and Bob Margett supporting, and Democrats, Gloria Romero and Byron Sher opposing-- John Burton and John Vasconcellos did not vote.)  .   

AB 930-- Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy-- AB 930 would make all licensed medical personnel mandated reporters when they have a reasonable suspicion that a minor has a sexually transmitted disease or is pregnant.  A hearing was set in Assembly Public Safety Committee for April 8, and then postponed to April 22nd.  The hearing was cancelled at the request of the author and it is now a 2-year bill, which will be taken up next January.

         * * * * *         

You can access bill text, committee analyses, and votes on these bills, and all others, on the Assembly or Senate Websites-- www.assembly.ca.gov or www.sen.ca.gov.  Or Click here then insert the bill number.