Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

US Supreme Court Lifts Order That Blocked Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs

5 hours ago

Trump to Attend Club World Cup Final, FIFA Opens Office in Trump Tower

5 hours ago

Trump Says Pharmaceutical Tariffs Could Reach 200%

5 hours ago

Rescue Teams Find Three More Bodies After Central Texas Floods

6 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rigoberto Simental Aguilar

6 hours ago

Trump Says He Is Not Happy With Russia’s Putin, Considering Sanctions

6 hours ago

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to Be Sentenced on October 3

6 hours ago

Israeli Military Says It Struck Key Hamas Figure in Lebanon’s Tripoli

7 hours ago

Madera County Sheriff Logs 29 Fire-Related Calls on Fourth of July, Most in 5 Years

7 hours ago

Trump Says He May Take Over Governance of Washington, DC

7 hours ago
Why Gov. Newsom Should Veto SB 24, the Chemical Abortion Bill
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 6 years ago on
September 19, 2019

Share

Senate Bill 24 would require California’s public universities to provide the chemical method of abortion to college women. It would be a needless expansion of the practice of abortion, and Gov. Gavin Newsom should veto it.
This measure would not be a wise investment. The Department of Finance points this out in its statement of opposition, citing the diversion of finances from other more worthwhile investments and the lack of expertise in the University of California and California State University systems to administer the program.



Jaime Soto and Jessica Manzo
Special to CALmatters

Opinion 
These cautions should be heeded, but there are other reasons to veto this bill.
The legislation would make university administrations further complicit in the violent exploitation of university women that has been brought to light by the “Me-Too” movement.
The measure, proposed to provide a response to unplanned pregnancy, offers no reporting mechanisms in cases where women have been raped on campus.
The silence of SB 24, authored by Sen. Connie Leyva, Chino Democrat, on this point speaks loudly about the institutional indifference for women and children. Women deserve safer, more respectful, environments on campuses, not more ways for the universities to hide their victimization.
Senate Bill 24 is not about health care. It is an example of partisan posturing, consolidating the state’s aversion to any restrictions of abortion.
Promoters of this ideological measure have argued for its necessity without any definitive data. California chooses not to keep statistics on the use of abortion, and this bill would extend that policy.
Other vital public health statistics, including euthanasia, are more thoroughly recorded and documented. This lack of information means that the Legislature is acting in the dark, led by the hand by those fixated on hiding the consequences of abortion on women.

‘Fetuses Gestating in Their Mothers’ Wombs Are Clearly Innocent’

Six months ago, Gov. Newsom took a courageous stand by instituting a moratorium on carrying-out the state’s death penalty, citing statistics showing that the state-sanctioned practice was “unevenly and unfairly applied to people of color, people with mental disabilities, and people who cannot afford costly legal representation.”
Many of us support the governor’s action because of the moral imperative we all share to respect the dignity of human life.
The use of the death penalty is no longer necessary and is an obstacle to the social promotion of the dignity of the human person.
Those of us who hold to this moral principle assert that there is even greater moral clarity regarding the practice of state-sanctioned abortions inflicted on many of the same populations cited by the governor, as well as on other vulnerable groups.
In the case of abortions, fetuses gestating in their mothers’ wombs are clearly innocent. They are unnecessarily condemned because of a lack of moral vision and will. At its root, the practice of abortion is a “human error” that is “irreversible and irreparable.”
Gov. Newsom should consider a moratorium on the use of abortion because it is “unevenly and unfairly applied” to people of color and people who are poor, and used for the selective abortion of girls, and those with disabilities.
He should begin by vetoing SB 24, and call for a more thorough documentation and informed dialogue on how to best serve young women and the unborn.
About the Authors 
Jaime Soto is Bishop of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, Bishopsoto@scd.org. Jessica Manzo is a student at Sacramento State University, and vice president of the Sac State Newman Center, jessicamanzo1221@gmail.com. They wrote this commentary for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Woman Sentenced to Prison for DUI Crash That Killed One, Injured Three

DON'T MISS

Union Files Ethics Complaint After College Chancellor’s ‘Goddaughter’ Receives $161K In Contracts

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect Tied to 2 Shootings, Firearm Recovered

DON'T MISS

Are Former Measure C Execs Pushing Their Own Ballot Measure?

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Near New Cuyama Grows to 80,615 Acres, 35% Contained

DON'T MISS

US Justice Department Scrambles to Defend Its About-Face on Release of Epstein Files

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Lifts Order That Blocked Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs

DON'T MISS

Trump to Attend Club World Cup Final, FIFA Opens Office in Trump Tower

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Pharmaceutical Tariffs Could Reach 200%

DON'T MISS

Rescue Teams Find Three More Bodies After Central Texas Floods

UP NEXT

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

UP NEXT

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

UP NEXT

July 4th Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Founding Fathers

UP NEXT

Presidential Election Reveals Big Shift in California Voting Patterns. Will It Last?

UP NEXT

From Victims to Perpetrators: Israeli Soldiers’ Nazi Comparisons and the Unfolding War Crimes in Gaza

UP NEXT

Dear Mayor and City Council, Fresno’s Housing Bottlenecks Are a Modern Form of Redlining

UP NEXT

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

UP NEXT

Israel Faces Genocide Accusations Amid Gaza Food Aid Killings

UP NEXT

I Detest Netanyahu, but on Some Things He’s Actually Right

UP NEXT

Much of LA’s Community of Immigrants Is Hiding, Leaving a Hole in the Fabric of the City

Are Former Measure C Execs Pushing Their Own Ballot Measure?

3 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Near New Cuyama Grows to 80,615 Acres, 35% Contained

4 hours ago

US Justice Department Scrambles to Defend Its About-Face on Release of Epstein Files

4 hours ago

US Supreme Court Lifts Order That Blocked Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs

5 hours ago

Trump to Attend Club World Cup Final, FIFA Opens Office in Trump Tower

5 hours ago

Trump Says Pharmaceutical Tariffs Could Reach 200%

5 hours ago

Rescue Teams Find Three More Bodies After Central Texas Floods

6 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rigoberto Simental Aguilar

6 hours ago

Trump Says He Is Not Happy With Russia’s Putin, Considering Sanctions

6 hours ago

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to Be Sentenced on October 3

6 hours ago

Fresno Woman Sentenced to Prison for DUI Crash That Killed One, Injured Three

A 23-year-old Fresno woman was sentenced Tuesday to more than a decade in state prison for a 2021 drunk driving crash that killed one passen...

44 minutes ago

44 minutes ago

Fresno Woman Sentenced to Prison for DUI Crash That Killed One, Injured Three

2 hours ago

Union Files Ethics Complaint After College Chancellor’s ‘Goddaughter’ Receives $161K In Contracts

Jershawn Worthy was identified as the suspect in two Fresno shootings and is now facing multiple firearm-related charges. (Fresno PD)
2 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect Tied to 2 Shootings, Firearm Recovered

3 hours ago

Are Former Measure C Execs Pushing Their Own Ballot Measure?

The Madre Fire near New Cuyama has burned more than 80,615 acres, injured one firefighter, and prompted multiple evacuation orders as crews work to contain the growing wildfire. (CalFire)
4 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Near New Cuyama Grows to 80,615 Acres, 35% Contained

U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry March 28, 2017 and obtained by Reuters July 10, 2019. New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
4 hours ago

US Justice Department Scrambles to Defend Its About-Face on Release of Epstein Files

A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2024. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

US Supreme Court Lifts Order That Blocked Trump’s Mass Federal Layoffs

President Donald Trump holds the key to the FIFA Club World Cup trophy in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 7, 2025. (Reuters File)
5 hours ago

Trump to Attend Club World Cup Final, FIFA Opens Office in Trump Tower

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend