Governor Gavin Newsom declares California a "reproductive freedom state" with new legislation
CBSN
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Wednesday that will help expand access to reproductive health care while doubling down on protecting the privacy of patients who seek abortions or gender-affirming services.
The first of the bills, AB 1356, makes it a crime to post personal information or images of a reproductive health care patient online, punishable with up to a year in county jail and/or a $10,000 fine. If the offense results in bodily injury, the fine will increase up to $50,000.
Committing such actions is already a crime in the state, but the law has not been updated in more than a decade. As noted by assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who created the bill, anti-reproductive rights protesters often visit facilities to "harass all who enter."
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.