Area director of Planned Parenthood says Texas abortion law impacts California
According to Dr. Janet Jacobson, reproductive rights in California still need protection.
“California is a leader in reproductive rights and healthcare, and we really impact the rest of the country,” said the medical director and senior vice president of clinical services at Planned Parenthood of Orange & San Bernardino Counties in an interview with TimesOC. “If we start to lose access here, the rest of the country is going to follow.”
Access to abortion care was brought to the forefront earlier this month when the Supreme Court declined to block a Texas law enacting a near-complete ban on abortion.
Texas Senate Bill 8 bans most abortions after six weeks and doesn’t make exceptions for cases involving rape or incest. S.B. 8 also invites lawsuits against any individual who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion, including paying for or reimbursing the costs of an abortion through insurance or otherwise.”
The law not only targets clinics and their staff but also health insurers that approve a claim, a rideshare driver who drives a patient to care and even friends and family who discuss abortion options with a patient.
“It is difficult for people to talk about it with friends and family because of the stigma,” said Jacobson, a board certified OB/Gyn and former Navy FA-18 fighter pilot. “And in Texas it is going to be illegal to talk about it with friends and family.”
The Department of Justice has since filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas, alleging the state “enacted S.B. 8 in open defiance of the Constitution.”
Jacobson, who has worked with Planned Parenthood for eight years and trained in the complex family planning fellowship after her residency, said that while California currently has no such ban, inequities exist with abortion care in California.
“California is one of the states that spent the last several years working to protect abortion access through a series of legislation,” said Jacobson. “So you would think that abortion access in California would be secure.”
However, Jacobson said data suggest care is not secure for all.
“What we know about abortion is people who are in rural areas of California or people who have lower income or people of color have difficulty accessing abortion care for a number of reasons.”
Abortion care tends to be centralized in urban areas, Jacobson said, and childcare, work and transportation issues can also limit access.
“One of my patients recently traveled by bus from Barstow with her kids to get to our clinic,” said Jacobson.
Texas’ law could further exasperate inequities when reproductive freedom states like California are forced to absorb the impact, Jacobson said.
“We saw about 7,000 people from outside California coming here for abortion services, and we know that number is only going to increase now,” said Jacobson, “which is only going to further limit the vulnerable populations here.”
The law could also contribute to the economic gap between the poor and wealthy, Jacobson said.
“Even before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal, people who are wealthy and have the means to travel will always be able to get abortions,” Jacobson said. “But as those restrictions become more significant … people are disproportionately affected … We have the wealthy people and we have the people that are the 99% who cannot access healthcare in general and certainly not abortion care.”
Jacobson said the recall election is the most immediate threat to access in California.
“When we look at the people who could possibly become governor if the recall election succeeds, the front runner is an anti-abortion extremist, which could really impact access to abortion here in California,” Jacobson said, referring to candidate Larry Elder, who has stated he is pro-life and is running as a Republican.
Dr. Jacobson notes limited access to abortion care affects more individuals than people may think.
“About one in four people that have a uterus will get an abortion by the time they are 45,” Jacobson said, citing data from the Guttmacher Institute, a leading reproductive health research organization. “When people think of who is seeking abortions, they often think of very young people who are being manipulated or being taken advantage of, and that’s just not true,” she said. “The most common abortion patient is a 20-something that already has kids.”
If federal courts allow the Texas law to stand, it makes it possible for other conservative states to pass similar laws, Jacobson said. There are 561 laws in other states that limit abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
Besides the efforts of the U.S. Department of Justice, reproductive rights advocates, like Planned Parenthood, are working to protect abortion access in Texas and other states. The Community Action Fund of Planned Parenthood of Orange & San Bernardino Counties directly supports local candidates who value access to reproductive health services and education.
As for action Californians can take now, Jacobson said voting in the recall is imperative.
“Voting ‘no’ on the dangerous recall election, that is the number one thing that we have to do right now.”
She also advocates for voting out elected officials at all levels who do not support access to safe, legal abortion.
“We have to also look to our local elections, our assembly and senate and working locally is incredibly important to protect access,” Jacobson said. “And then on the federal level … it is not time for us to vote for our next president, but there will be a lot of emphasis on that when the time comes.”
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