Three California pro-life organizations say more than 1,800 concerned citizens have pledged to show up at the state capitol in Sacramento on Tuesday in an effort to persuade state lawmakers to vote “No” on a bill that essentially decriminalizes infanticide.
The measure is known as A.B. 2223, and opponents have labeled it “The Infanticide Bill.”
As CBN News reported earlier this month, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee passed A.B. 2223, a proposed California bill that pro-life advocates across the state warn will not only codify the killing of unborn children throughout all nine months of pregnancy but will also decriminalize actions that lead to the deaths of newborns in the days after birth.
Tuesday has been dubbed “Stop A.B. 2223 CA Lobby Day” by the pro-life organizations’ Capitol Resource Institute, California Family Council, and Real Impact.
The organizers have invited Christian pastors and their congregations, plus other concerned pro-life citizens from across the Golden State, to the rally at the capitol building.
From this group, individuals are scheduled to visit assembly members’ offices and will also testify against A.B. 2223 during a hearing scheduled by the Assembly Health Committee at 4:00 pm Pacific Time Tuesday in the capitol building.
**For more information about the rally at the California State Capitol, CLICK HERE.**
As CBN News reported last month, pro-life groups said new language added to the proposed legislation A.B. 2223 would shield a mother from civil and criminal charges for any “actions or omissions” related to her pregnancy, “including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion, or perinatal death.” Although definitions of “perinatal death” vary, all of them include the death of newborns seven days or more after birth.
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***
Babies have been left to die in the wake of botched abortions when life-saving medical care could have been given to those born-alive infants. That’s one reason why the “perinatal death” issue is a legitimate concern.
A.B. 2223, authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and co-authored by Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Kevin Mullin (D-South San Francisco), additionally protects anyone who “aids or assists a pregnant person in exercising” these so-called rights. It also allows a woman to sue any police department or legal authority which arrests or charges her for hurting or killing her child under provisions of the bill.
CBN News reached out to Assemblymember Wicks’ office for comment but received no response.
A.B. 2223 also removes the duty of a coroner to determine how a newborn died if the death is known or suspected to be the result of a self-induced or criminal abortion. If a coroner decides to investigate a newborn’s death under these circumstances, the reason for the newborn’s death can’t be used to prosecute anyone involved with the death. This law would leave babies born alive after a failed abortion-vulnerable to murder or death by neglect.
Golden State Moving Rapidly to Fund and Expand Abortions
California is moving to dramatically expand and fund the number of abortions performed in the state. Its motivation: the possibility of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade this summer. If the court overturns Roe, the issue of abortion would then be regulated by each individual state.
California is nationally known for its abortion-friendly laws and policies and is positioning itself to serve as an abortion destination for women from states that might limit abortions in a post-Roe America.
As a result, last October Gov. Newsom announced his administration’s participation in the California Future of Abortion Council, which is led by state Senate President pro-Tempore Toni Atkins, Planned Parenthood, and other abortion leaders.
Now, these policymakers and abortion advocates have listed the proposed bill, A.B. 2223, as part of their agenda to implement a 45-point plan to “expand and protect access” to abortion in California. The abortion council is currently advocating for nine different abortion expansion bills.
A ‘We The People’ Moment
On the eve of the rally at the state capitol, Jonathan Keller, president of the California Family Council, said, “Every Californian must oppose this heinous bill.”
“We are thrilled to see Californians all over the state traveling hundreds of miles to tell legislators decriminalizing infanticide is barbaric and indefensible,” Keller said. “A political culture that justifies killing millions of children in the womb is now declaring open season on unwanted newborns.”
Real Impact Director Gina Gleason said the bill “has awakened a sleeping giant.”
Karen England, president of the Capitol Resource Institute, called the event at the state capitol a “We The People” moment.
“This is a ‘We The People’ moment with everyday citizens using their constitutionally protected right to voice their disapproval of legislative proposals,” England said. “Californians know it’s disingenuous to claim, like those supporting AB 2223 do, that perinatal death does not include babies after they are born.”
**For more information about AB 2223, CLICK HERE**
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN