Friday, September 29, 2006
NAF Communications Department
202-667-5881
press@prochoice.org
Saporta: California health care providers have been targeted by anti-abortion extremists at their homes and offices. These new laws will help give California health care providers and women the protection they need and deserve. Washington- Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, released the following statement commending California for new laws to protect reproductive health care providers and their patients from violence and harassment:
On Tuesday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a number of measures related to women's health, including S.B. 603 and A.B. 2251, two important bills designed to protect reproductive health care providers and their patients from violence and harassment.
Senate Bill 603 extends the Reproductive Rights Law Enforcement Act, set to expire at the end of the year. This Act, first passed in 2001, required the Attorney General to collect and analyze information on anti-reproductive rights crimes and develop a plan to prevent, apprehend, prosecute, and report these crimes in the future to ensure the safety of California health care providers and women. Extending this Act for another two years will provide an opportunity for the Commission on the Status of Women and other experts to evaluate the current effectiveness of the Act and the plan developed by the Attorney General.
Assembly Bill 2251 prohibits, under specific circumstances, the online posting, sale, trade or solicitation of home addresses, phone numbers and pictures of reproductive health care providers and their patients. Anti-choice extremists have been known to publish personal information about reproductive health care providers and patients on the web in an effort to intimidate them. This bill helps to protect the personal privacy of providers and patients and is an essential tool in the fight against anti-choice violence and harassment.
California health care providers have been targeted by anti-abortion extremists at their homes and offices. They have recently received threatening letters and witnessed a disturbing shooting within a clinic. These new laws will help give California health care providers and women the protection they need and deserve.
###
The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers in the United States and Canada. Our mission is to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortion care to promote health and justice for women. Our members include health care professionals at clinics, doctors' offices, and hospitals, who together care for more than half the women in both countries who choose abortion each year. For more information, visit our website at www.prochoice.org
|
