California will now let doctors anonymously mail abortion medication, under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom aimed at protecting health care providers and patients from legal or disciplinary risks, the governor’s office announced late Friday evening.
This latest Democratic push to safeguard abortion access would also ensure that medications like mifepristone remain available in California even if the FDA withdraws its approval. The measure is one of more than a dozen laws that Newsom, widely seen as a potential presidential contender, has signed in recent years to reinforce the state’s identity as a stronghold for reproductive rights. It builds on a growing web of protections aimed at countering what the Democrat governor views as anti-abortion overreach from Texas and other conservative states.
“California stands for a woman’s right to choose,” Newsom said in a statement. “I’m proud to sign these bills to protect access to essential health care and shield patients and health care providers in the face of amplified attacks on the fundamental right to reproductive freedom.”
Several states have made it easier to challenge those who bypass laws to get abortion pills. Texas now allows private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures, ships, or supplies abortion drugs for up to $100,000, though recipients using the pills themselves are exempt. In August, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent cease-and-desist letters to several organizations on Wednesday, ordering them to stop the advertising, sale, and shipment of abortion-inducing drugs into Texas.
“Texas will not tolerate the murdering of innocent life through illegal drug trafficking,” said Attorney General Paxton. Paxton’s action stems from two recent cases in Texas where individuals allegedly obtained abortion-inducing drugs illegally with the assistance of certain organizations. In one lawsuit, a man is accused of using the drugs to poison his girlfriend, resulting in the loss of the pregnancy and sending her to the hospital.
Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry introduced California’s legislation and said the bill was a direct answer to the Texas lawsuit. “I appreciate the partnership with the Administration as we fight for the sanctity of the patient-health professional relationship, and the safety of Californians and their health providers,” she added.
The FDA first approved mifepristone in 2000 for abortion up to seven weeks of pregnancy but then made a series of changes in 2016 and 2021. Those changes included increasing the gestational age at which mifepristone can be used to up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, allowing the medication to be mailed to patients, lowering the dosage, approving telehealth prescribing and permitting providers other than physicians to prescribe the drug.