On Tuesday, Gavin Newsom, the governor of California signed a new law that would make abortions cheaper for those who were on private insurance plans. This is the first bill that has ben signed by him on abortion rights as states ruled by Democrats are making advance plans to deal with a possible overturn of the Roe vs Wade bill in the U.S. Supreme Court as the majority of judges are in favor of ruling against it.
State Senator Lena A. Gonzalez had proposed the bill called the Abortion Accessibility Act (SB 245). It will decrease abortion costs substantially as health plans and insurers will not be able to add a co-pay deductible or any other cost-sharing requirements for the procedures. They can no longer impose utilization management practices on abortions or related services that are covered.
In a press release, Governor Newsom mentioned that the new law would “help ensure equitable, affordable access to abortion services.” He also said that “out of pocket expenses” would no longer stand in the way of people “receiving care.” Although California is one among six states in the nation where health insurance plans must cover abortion, out of pocket expenses can cross 1,000 dollars, according to the press release.
In 1973, in a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court in the nation had ruled in Roe vs Wade. The Supreme Court banned states in the nation from outlawing abortions. If the almost 50 year old ruling is overturned, this summer, 26 states across the nation that have Republican majorities in Congress are expected to either outlaw abortions or give restricted access to the procedure. This was reported by Guttmacher Institute, an organization that is in favor of abortion rights.
Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and other states have recently passed laws that ban abortions or make it very difficult for a person to undergo an abortion and even their family members and those who help them to get the procedure can get penalized.
So, Democratic states are gearing up to pass laws that can be considered as pro-abortion ones to safeguard those who require or want to undergo this procedure. These states are also looking to pass laws that will help people travel to their state for an abortion, without facing penal action.
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