AB 710 & 315 are defeated
In a surprising development, two of the worst bills introduced in the California Legislature this year, AB 710 and AB 315, were defeated on May 18, failing to pass through the California Assembly Appropriations Committee in a timely fashion. The bills are “dead” and cannot be reintroduced this year. They represented open attacks against pro-life pregnancy centers and clinics.
AB 315 would have created a private right of action (i.e., a right for individuals to sue) against any entity offering pregnancy related services that engage in “deceptive” advertising regarding its provision or non-provision of abortion. The pro-abortion narrative is that pro-life clinics and centers deceive women into thinking they offer abortions when they actually do not, and thereby delay patients’ ability to get abortions. This is obvious nonsense.
AB 315 also threatened pro-life clinics and providers through its vagueness. Would its ban on “deceptive” advertising preclude a clinic or hospital that offers the full scope of OB/GYN services, but not abortion, from saying that they offer “comprehensive” OB/GYN care? Further, the penalty for such “deception” would be a threat of nonstop lawsuits from activists, which most nonprofit, pro-life clinics could not sustain.
AB 710 is the continuation of a years-long effort to promote abortion and deride pro-life clinics in the public eye. It would have spend millions on a broad-based, statewide ad campaign promoting abortion and attacking pro-life clinics.
Thankfully, it seems that California’s financial pressures encouraged the Legislature to pause and reconsider. With a deficit looming, California simply doesn’t have the breathing room for luxuries like statewide abortion ad campaigns. The two bills languished in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, failing to receive a vote prior to the necessary deadline.
There are certainly more pro-abortion bills looming in the Legislature this year, but we were heartened by this news. Let’s keep supporting our local pro-life clinics (like Obria!).