This article first appeared in the Washington Examiner
California’s policy of funding abortion throughout pregnancy without requiring medical justification proves that President Trump is correct in his comments at the Republican National Convention regarding the position of the Democratic Party.
At the RNC, Trump asserted that the Democratic Party supports abortion up to the point of birth. He was called a liar by the left-wing fact-checkers in the media. They said that the Democrats support current laws that allow abortion to be banned after viability but must include exceptions for the life and health of the mother. They hold that this disproves Trump’s statement.
Except that it doesn’t. Trump spoke the truth about what current abortion law actually means while the self-proclaimed truth-tellers continue to obfuscate the issue. California is a case in point.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and other Democrats have called for states to codify the Supreme Court opinion Roe v. Wade. Roe, as modified by Planned Parenthood v. Casey, says that a state may ban abortions only after viability but must include an exception for the life and health of the mother. Yet “health” is defined very broadly and includes not only physical health, but also psychological and emotional factors, the age of the woman, and family issues. By allowing nonphysical concerns to be considered, this expansive definition eviscerates any abortion ban and allows abortions after viability for virtually any reason.
California is one of 43 states that follows Casey and seemingly “bans” abortion after viability, including a health exception. However, in apparent contradiction of its own statute, California’s Medi-Cal program blatantly declares that the state will pay for abortions without “medical justification and authorization” and “regardless of the gestational age of the fetus.” The California Department of Health Care Services confirmed in its response to a Public Records Act request made by the California ProLife Council that this is indeed its practice.
Is California saying one thing while doing another? We think not. California’s Medi-Cal funding of abortion throughout pregnancy without medical justification reveals the expansive health exception for what it is: a mere fig leaf to cover the true effect of Roe, Doe, and Casey, which is abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
The Democratic Party has controlled the California legislature since 1999 and now holds a supermajority. The governor’s mansion has been occupied by Democrats during that time as well, except during the years 2003-11 when pro-abortion Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor. Needless to say, he did nothing to protect the unborn while in office.
After numerous states passed laws restricting abortions in 2019, California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom invited women from all over the country to come to California and “fully exercise their reproductive rights.” In addition, from 2011-17, Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, served as the state’s attorney general and was vested with the responsibility of enforcing California law. She did nothing during her tenure in office to call unlimited abortion funding into question.
Since 1999, Democrats have had nearly full sway in establishing state laws and policies, and unlimited, government-funded abortion has been the result. California’s policy demonstrates that Biden, Harris, and the Democrats cannot legitimately claim to want abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare.” In fact, Biden has reversed his former position and now says he will support the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which currently allows federal funding of abortions only to protect the life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest.
Following California’s lead, this would permit federal funding of abortion on demand. The Golden State serves as a dire warning to the rest of the country as to what could happen nationwide on Nov. 3, 2020, if voters choose Biden, the candidate representing the pro-abortion party, for the presidency.
“As California goes, so goes the nation.”
