By Steven Ertelt, Micaiah Bilger
Article Source

California has solidified its stance as one of the most radically pro-abortion states in America as voters there approved a ballot measure to allow killing babies in taxpayer-funded abortions up to birth.

Unfortunately, with 37% of the vote calucated, Proposition 1 has an unsurprising lead of 69-31% in one of the most radically leftist states in the country.

Leading pro-life advocates and the Catholic Church campaign against the proposal.

San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantú, president of the California Catholic Conference, said the proposed state constitutional amendment is bad for women and children.

“California’s political leadership has made it clear that the state’s priority is to make it easy to end a pregnancy, but hard and expensive to keep one. Women, children and families deserve better,” Cantú wrote, joined by Orange Bishop Kevin Vann and Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Freyer.

The bishops said Proposition 1 would end what few limits on abortion California has and enshrine into the state constitution a “right” to taxpayer-funded “late-term abortion up until the moment of birth, even if both mother and child are healthy.”

Democrat lawmakers introduced the amendment earlier this year, arguing California needs to establish a “right” to abortion in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June.

But the lawmakers who championed the amendment have not been clear about exactly what it would do. Polls show California voters support the amendment but they also overwhelmingly oppose late-term abortions, which the amendment would allow.

The bishops pointed to a Rasmussen poll in August that found only 13 percent of California voters think abortions should be legal up to birth.

“California already has some of the most permissive abortion laws in the country,” the bishops continued. If it passes, the state would have “some of the most permissive abortion policies in the world,” joining countries like China and North Korea.

They also criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers for making the killing of unborn babies a top priority while ignoring families’ true needs.

“Our state budget allocated $20 million to provide for travel, missed wages, child care and even doula care for women from other states seeking abortions but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the very same care for low-income California residents who maintain their pregnancies,” the bishops wrote. “There is no equity or even a push for parity in medical coverage for pregnant women and mothers.”

They continued:

Our state budget includes hundreds of millions of dollars for expanding abortion access while ignoring very real problems that currently plague it. The California legislature has budgeted $200 million to fund and expand abortion … —those are funds that could otherwise have paid for full prenatal care for 110,000 California women. They could have paid for labor and delivery costs for 28,000 new California mothers, or for a full year of rent for 12,000 California families.

In contrast, they said Catholics in the state have been working to expand support services for pregnant and parenting families, including through a new campaign called We Were Born Ready that equips Catholics to connect families in need with life-affirming service providers across state.

Together, the bishops urged Californians to reject the amendment and focus instead on creating a society that values every human life.

“We seek to create a world that cherishes every human life and identifies real solutions to the obstacles women face during pregnancy—so no woman feels her only choice is abortion,” they said.

California has the largest number of abortion facilities in the country at 168; New York is second with 89, according to a new ANSIRH study. A new law slated to go into effect next year will force all public colleges and universities to provide abortions on campus. Newsom and Democrat lawmakers also are working closely with the abortion industry to expand abortions in other ways.

State abortion facilities reported 132,680 abortions in 2017, according to the Guttmacher Institute.