Los Angeles County extends abortion services to residents of Arizona
With Arizona women nearly cut off from abortion services through early fall, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will provide them access to reproductive services, including abortions, at L.A. County facilities, according to a motion adopted on Tuesday, May 7.
The motion, authored by Third District Supervisor and board chair Lindsey Horvath, was approved by a unanimous vote of 5-0.
“The state (of California) has recognized us to be a safe haven. The county is prepared to do our part,” said First District Supervisor Hilda Solis.
The action will welcome Arizona residents to travel to the county for reproductive health services. It also asks the county Department of Public Health (DHS) to extend the county’s Abortion Safe Haven website to Arizona residents, healthcare providers and the Arizona Department of Public Health. The website provides a list of abortion providers, as well as contraceptive and family planning services.
L.A. County will also assist Arizona-licensed physicians to become licensed in California to provide abortions and other reproductive services. A report on granting Arizona doctors access to L.A. County’s abortion access line will be before the board sometime in June.
“Since the overturning of Roe, California and the County of Los Angeles have stood strong in ensuring we remain a safe haven for abortion care for everyone, no matter what state you live in – and I am proud we are doing that again with this motion,” said Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn.
Last year, the county Department of Health Services conducted 353 procedural abortions. However the department is not able to increase capacity for more procedural abortions due to space and resource limitations, the board reported. The motion asks DHS to find the funding and increase staff within the next six months.
The supervisors also asked its Legislative Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations office to support Senate Bill 233, which would temporarily allow licensed Arizona doctors to provide abortion and abortion-related care to Arizona patients traveling to California through November 30, 2024.
“Los Angeles County stands with Gov. Newsom to do everything in its power to make abortion services available to our Arizona neighbors,” said Horvath.
In early April, Arizona’s Supreme Court voted to restore an 1864 law that bans all abortions except those done to save the mother’s life, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The Arizona Legislature repealed the law on May 1. However, the legislative repeal will not go into effect until 90 days after the state’s legislative session ends, usually in June or July.
That means the ban will be in effect through September or October.
“There is a critical time gap for care until this arcane law is repealed,” said Horvath, who said the motion will “ensure Arizonans can access reproductive health services” at least until the Arizona ban is off the books and/or beyond that time. “We’ll offer our full support to our neighbors in Arizona until Gov. Hobbs and the Arizona legislature’s historic repeal is in place,” she added.
In Arizona, after the 1864 law banning abortions is no longer in effect, a 2002 statute banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy will become the state’s prevailing abortion law.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.