The first half of this year’s legislative session is officially over. In order to survive, bills had to make it out of the first legislative house by today. Unfortunately, many of the state bills the California Family Council is very concerned about and opposing received approval to move forward.
Below are the seven worst of the worst pieces of legislation still heading on to the next legislative house for consideration before going to the governor’s desk. We hope and pray California Christians, motivated by a love for their neighbor, will publicly oppose these bills and talk to their own legislators about them.
Over the next few weeks, everyone needs to contact their state representatives to voice their opinion about these bills. Those who don’t know their legislators’ contact information can find that here.
For a more complete list of bills CFC is opposing, click here.
AB 1184: Require Insurance companies to keep secrets from parents: This Planned Parenthood sponsored bill will allow minors to use their parent’s health insurance without parental consent and then force the insurance companies to hide the treatment from parents if the medical procedure is labeled “sensitive.” Services considered “sensitive” include abortion, sexual assault treatment, drug abuse and mental health treatment, and cross-sex hormones and sex-change operations. In California, a minor can get an abortion at any age without parental knowledge or consent, and consent to their own mental health treatment, with a few stipulations, starting at age 13.
Status update: AB 1184 passed the Assembly: 59 yes, 13 no, 6 not voting. The bill will next be heard in the Senate Health Committee.
AB 101: Mandatory Ethnic Studies High School Graduation Requirement: This bill will mandate high school students take a course in “ethnic studies” in order to graduate high school. The curriculum is infused with Critical Race Theory meant to create resentment among non-white students, and guilt and shame among white students. Lessons falsely tell students to feel guilty for crimes done by long-dead figures with the same color skin. The curriculum seeks to pit ethnic groups and those with various sexual and gender identities against each other. It also encourages teens to judge people not by the content of their character, but by the racial or sexual identity group they belong to.
Status update: AB 101 passed the Assembly: 58 yes, 9 no, 11 not voting. This bill is in the Senate Rules Committee awaiting assignment to a policy committee.
SB 57: Illegal drug injection centers: This bill would start a pilot program in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles to create drug injection centers so drug addicts can use illicit drugs, like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, under medical supervision. The idea is to prevent drug addicts from overdosing, but ignores the effects of enabling the devastating effects of illegal drugs on the body, and the negative effects that illegal drugs have on the health of the community.
Status Update: SB 57 passed the Senate: 21 yes, 11 no, 8 not voting. This bill will be heard next in the Assembly Health Committee.
SB 519: Decriminalization of LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs: This bill will legalize dangerous psychedelic drugs, such as LSD, Magic Mushrooms, and Ecstasy for those over 21. It would also eliminate laws against the cultivation, transfer, or transportation of these drugs and the paraphernalia used to ingest these drugs.
Status Update: SB 519 passed the Senate: 21 yes, 16 no, 3 not voting. This bill is in the Assembly Rules Committee awaiting assignment to a policy committee.
SB 245: Forcing health insurance plans to pay for free abortions: This bill forces all private insurance policies to cover abortions with no co-pays and no deductibles, despite the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determination that California was already breaking federal law by forcing private health insurance plans to include coverage for abortion. There would be an exception for high deductible insurance plans.
Status Update: SB 245 passed the Senate: 31 yes, 8 no, 1 not voting. This bill is in the Assembly Rules Committee awaiting assignment to a policy committee.
SB 357: Legalizes loitering with the intent to commit prostitution: This bill doesn’t legalize prostitution, but gets rid of a law that gives police the ability to deal with obvious prostitution happening on neighborhood streets. According to Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva, the “underlying root” of the “loitering with the intent to commit prostitution” law is to “target sex buyers who seek to exploit” women and men. This law will harm police efforts to prevent human trafficking from happening out in the open on any neighborhood street. The bill is sponsored by the ACLU and authored by Senator Scott Wiener, both proponents of legalizing prostitution.
Status Update: SB 357 passed the Senate: 29 yes, 9 no, 2 not voting. This bill is in the Assembly Rules Committee awaiting assignment to a policy committee.
SB 380: Removing safeguards from assisted suicide law: California’s assisted suicide law passed in 2015 had some safeguards added that the bill author, Senator Susan Eggman, now wants to remove. First, the bill’s sunset date of 2025 will be removed after only four years of published annual reports by the California Department of Public Health. The sunset date was put in the original bill to allow the legislature to reevaluate the law’s impact using a decade of data. Second, patients will no longer have to make two oral requests for suicide drugs with a 15-day waiting period between requests as is currently required. This safeguard was added to make sure patients weren’t making impulsive decisions or being subject to coercion of any kind.
Status Update: SB 380 passed the Senate: 26 yes, 8 no, 6 not voting. This bill will be heard next in the Assembly Health Committee.
