Work in California

Newsom signs bill allowing Arizona abortion doctors to work in California

Licensed Arizona physicians who have performed an abortion in the last two years can apply for a temporary California license, and if they qualify, receive it in five days.

By RACHEL BLUTH

Gov. Gavin Newsom quietly signed a new law to allow some doctors from Arizona to become temporarily licensed in California to perform abortions for their patients.

Newsom’s office announced without a signing ceremony on Thursday that Senate Bill 233 will go into effect immediately, just a month after first trumpeting the idea on MSNBC.

“Arizona Republicans tried to turn back the clock to 1864 to impose a near-total abortion ban across their state,” Newsom said in a statement. “We refuse to stand by and acquiesce to their oppressive and dangerous attacks on women.”

Why it matters: Newsom and the state Legislature have been trying to position California as a haven for reproductive rights and abortion care since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion in 2022. The new law is one of various actions California has taken since then to offer greater access to abortion seekers both from inside and outside the state.

Inside the bill: Licensed Arizona physicians who have performed an abortion in the last two years can apply for a temporary California license, and if they qualify, receive it in five days.

They’ll only be allowed to provide abortion care and only through November 30, 2024.

Key context: The law was introduced by Women’s Caucus co-chairs State Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry.

It’s a direct response to Arizona’s 1864 ban on abortion, which was recently upheld by that state’s Supreme Court but soon after overturned by its legislature. The ban will still remain in place for some time due to legislative procedures, and California’s new law aims to offer care during that gap.

Critics in California have said the law isn’t necessary because for the brief weeks that Arizona’s ban will be in effect, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has said she won’t enforce it.