SB 1245: Los Angeles County Abortion Access Safe Haven Pilot Program.

Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, provides that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to their personal reproductive decisions, including the fundamental right to choose to bear a child or to choose and to obtain an abortion.

This bill would establish, using a $20,000,000 appropriation made in the Budget Act of 2022 for this purpose, the Los Angeles County Abortion Access Safe Haven Pilot Program for the purpose of expanding and improving access to reproductive and sexual health care, including abortion, in the County of Los Angeles. The bill would require any funds allocated for the Los Angeles County Abortion Access Safe Haven Pilot Program to be used by the County of Los Angeles or its program administrator to administer a pilot project to support innovative approaches and patient-centered collaborations to expand and improve access to sexual and reproductive health care and to maintain a financial reporting system. The bill would authorize the funds to be used for implementing recommendations from the County of Los Angeles, including building secure infrastructure, among other things. The bill would require the program administrator to determine a funding framework to prioritize funding for pilot programs and projects and to provide an annual report to the Legislature on the projects and collaborations funded by the program. The bill would exempt specified program information from public disclosure.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.