California Gov. Gavin Newsom is continuing his campaign to make Republican lawmakers pay for their abortion bans, with new initiatives targeting Arizona and Alabama.
On Sunday, Newsom announced forthcoming legislation that would make abortion care more accessible to residents of Arizona, which shares a border with California. The proposal, a response to Arizona’s Civil War-era abortion ban, would shorten the amount of time it takes for Arizona doctors to be approved to perform abortions in California to anywhere from five to 10 days, according to Politico.
Appearing on “Inside with Jen Psaki,” Newsom said the state would be “providing doctors from Arizona the ability to come into California through emergency legislation we’ll introduce with our Women’s Caucus this week.”
Newsom also told Psaki that a “big part” of his recent efforts have been to focus “electorally” on the neighboring states of Arizona and Nevada “and what the needs and the aspirations and desires of the people that live there are.”
Newsom spokesperson Brandon Richards said the new proposal came in direct response to a call to action by Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes.
“Arizona AG Kris Mayes identified a need to expedite the ability for Arizona abortion providers to continue to provide care to Arizonans as a way to support patients in their state seeking abortion care in California,” Richards said, promising more details on the legislation in the coming days.
Newsom’s PAC also dropped a new ad called “Fugitive,” targeting Alabama Republicans who are pushing to criminalize anyone who helps people obtain abortion care outside of the state. The ad features two women being pulled over by a state trooper just after they cross state lines.
“Trump Republicans want to criminalize young Alabama women who travel for reproductive care,” the ad says.
Newsom’s ad began airing Monday and is part of his PAC’s six-figure ad campaign targeting several GOP-led states that are pushing to enact travel bans.
In Tennessee, Newsom aired an ad in February depicting a rape survivor handcuffed to a hospital gurney, pointing out that the state’s abortion ban has no exceptions for rape and incest survivors.
Over the last year, Newsom has carved out a larger role as a surrogate for Democrats and even President Joe Biden on a variety of issues, including Biden’s age, book bans, and abortion.
Zachary Mueller is the senior research director for America’s Voice and America’s Voice Education Fund. He brings his expertise on immigration politics to talk about how much money the GOP is using to promote its racist immigration campaigns.
