The Californer - In the years since Dobbs, California continues to stand firm as a strong reproductive freedom state

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Jun 24, 2026

In the years since Dobbs, California continues to stand firm as a strong reproductive freedom state

What you need to know: The Newsom administration has implemented significant policies to bolster reproductive freedom and individuals' rights to control their own future.

SACRAMENTO – Four years after Donald Trump's Republican-majority Supreme Court ripped away Americans' right to reproductive freedom, California has advanced significant efforts to safeguard access to this critical healthcare in the state.

Through years of legislation, legal action, and a ballot initiative enshrining the right to abortion care in the California Constitution, the Newsom administration has prioritized protecting and expanding access to fundamental healthcare services, championing California as a reproductive freedom state.

"Four years after the Dobbs decision, millions of women across this country are still living with the consequences of a fundamental right being stripped away. At a time when reproductive rights remain under attack, California stands firm. We've strengthened protections for patients and providers, expanded access to contraception and reproductive healthcare, and made clear that everyone deserves the freedom to control their own future.

"The fight for reproductive freedom didn't end with Dobbs. We will continue leading with our values and doing everything in our power to protect and expand reproductive rights for all."

Governor Gavin Newsom

"As four years have passed since the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, California remains steadfast in our commitment to reproductive freedom and ensuring every woman has autonomy over her body and her future. While misogynistic attacks on women's rights and access to care continue across the country, California will never waver in protecting reproductive rights, supporting women and families, and preserving our state as a safe haven for those seeking care."

First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom

California's actions to champion reproductive freedoms

In the years since the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, Governor Newsom's administration has consistently stepped up to protect reproductive freedom, including:

February 2026: Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 106, granting $90 million in one-time emergency funds for Planned Parenthood and other clinics providing reproductive healthcare services following the devastating funding prohibition in Trump's Big Ugly Bill.
January 2026: The state rejected Louisiana's effort to extradite a California physician for providing medication abortion care lawful in California.
October 2025: In the face of federal funding prohibitions, Governor Gavin Newsom announced investments of over $140 million in state funding to support Planned Parenthood and other critical healthcare centers and access points to life-saving care and treatment for millions of Californians.
September 2025: Governor Newsom signed landmark legislation to safeguard access to reproductive healthcare, including AB 260, allowing healthcare providers to prescribe abortion care medication to patients anonymously, and AB 1525, helping shield attorneys assisting other states with access to reproductive care from State Bar discipline.
June 2025: The 25-26 budget expanded the authority of CalRx to purchase brand-name drugs, giving California more tools to respond to supply chain disruptions, market manipulation, or politically motivated restrictions that could threaten access to essential medications — including medication used for abortion care.
May 2024: Governor Newsom signed SB 233 with the Legislative Women's Caucus, allowing Arizona abortion providers to temporarily provide abortion care to patients from Arizona who travel to California for care following the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling to reimpose a regressive 1864 law imposing a near-total abortion ban in their state.
January 2024: The Reproductive Freedom Alliance, led by Governor Newsom, filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Food and Drug Administration, et al., v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, arguing that, if the Court allowed the Fifth Circuit's decision rejecting FDA's approval of mifepristone to stand, it would undermine governors' ability to provide adequate healthcare services and would have far-reaching implications beyond reproductive healthcare. The Supreme Court sided with the FDA in June 2024.
April 2023: Governor Newsom procured an emergency stockpile of misoprostol, a safe and effective medication abortion drug, as legal challenges continue to move through the courts in an attempt to block abortion medication.
March 2023: Governor Newsom joined 13 other governors in calling on major pharmacies to clarify plans for dispensing mifepristone and other actions they plan to take to safeguard access to reproductive healthcare drugs.
February 2023: Governor Newsom launched the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, a coalition of 23 governors fighting together to protect and advance reproductive freedom.
November 2022: Voters pass Governor Newsom and the Legislature's Proposition 1, an amendment to the state constitution to enshrine the right to reproductive freedom — including abortion care and contraception.
September 2022:
- Governor Newsom launched Abortion.CA.Gov to ensure people across California, and the country, can access essential information regarding reproductive healthcare, including resources available to support access to care.
- Governor Newsom, working with the Legislature, ensured California passed the largest reproductive freedom bill package in state history, building firewalls around California as a reproductive freedom state.
June 2022:
- Governor Newsom signed legislation to help protect patients and providers in California against radical attempts by other states to extend their anti-abortion laws into California, on the same day Roe v. Wade was overturned.
- California invested over $200 million in a variety of reproductive healthcare initiatives.
- Issued an Executive Order protecting state-held data and information from being used by out-of-state anti-abortion entities to target providers and patients.

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