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Blood On His Hands

Davis Signs Abortion Bills into Law

By Joe Marti

On a sunny, blue-sky September 5, Governor Gray Davis signed four bills into law that represent a serious blow to pro-life advocates. He also passed into law a requirement that all public and private hospitals in California not only explain the existence of so-called "emergency contraception" to rape victims, but require them to provide it -- all on the taxpayers' bill -- to those patients who cannot afford it. "I can now say, without contradiction, that California is hands down the most pro-choice state in America," said Davis. Spectators at the event numbered about 150. Among those were several children, referred to by one enthused observer as "planned choices."

One of the bills is largely symbolic, although no less damaging. This bill, sponsored by state senator Sheila Kuehl of Los Angeles, is notable for being the first state law that explicitly offers abortion as a legal means to terminate a pregnancy. This means that in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court reverses its 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, California can cite state's rights in order to keep abortion legal here.

One of the other bills has an immediate and devastating impact on pro-life advocates. It requires that all state resident programs in gynecology and obstetrics teach abortion procedures to students on a mandatory basis. This law provides no self-exclusion from learning these procedures though, formerly, one could cite personal conscience to avoid being taught the procedure. As the law now stands, Catholics or other pro-lifers can no longer avoid learning the procedures if they wish to enter obstetrics.

According to California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League statistics, 12 percent of residency programs in the state require abortion training. They further state that studies show that physicians who receive abortion training during their residency are more than twice as likely to provide abortions than physicians who do not.

Louis Giovino, spokesman for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, was quoted by the Associated Press, saying, "Catholic hospitals have a right to follow their own beliefs. It's a First Amendment issue here -- the separation of church and state. The government can't encroach on the church by forcing Catholic hospitals to do something that's against their beliefs."

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