Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Mullin)
ORIGINAL BILL: Notwithstanding any other law, a person shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability or penalty, or otherwise deprived of their rights, based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death due to a pregnancy-related cause.
AMENDED LANGUAGE on 5/19/22: ...or perinatal death due to a pregnancy-related cause. causes that occurred in utero.
The bill removes from existing law, under existing duties of the coroner, the duty to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of all deaths related to or following known or suspected self-induced or criminal abortion.
POSTED: June 10, 2022
STATUS: Senate Judiciary - hearing 6/14/2022
POSITION: Oppose
Thoughts for consideration:
This bill, as filed, was rightly called the legalization of infanticide since the term perinatal was not defined and is understood to extend up to 7 days to 4 weeks after birth. However, the amendment passed on 5/19 limited the perinatal time period to "in utero".
This bill remains a shield for abortionists against medical malpractice, even preventing coroners from investigating criminal abortions.
It creates a new civil cause of action (basis for a lawsuit) against persons who violate the rights protected by the Reproductive Privacy Act. Conceivable, a coroner who did investigate a criminal abortion could himself be subject to a lawsuit.