March 21, 2023

A Call to Action, Answered

Not since slavery has an issue so roiled the states.

On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade — and 50 years of its own precedents — when it handed down its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson. Since then, more than two dozen states have moved to outlaw or restrict abortion. But as some tack in that direction, others — notably California — have moved the other way, aggressively protecting abortion rights and launching a multifaceted campaign to protect them in the “post-Roe reversal era.” Two days after the court handed down Dobbs, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed that California “will continue to be a safe haven for all women seeking reproductive health care services.”

That announcement was no surprise. It also wasn’t a surprise that when Newsom and the state legislature needed a guardian to step in and forcefully protect reproductive freedom, they turned to UCLA.

In 2021, amid foreboding that the court would soon curtail abortion rights, Newsom included a $5 million budget allocation to the UCLA School of Law as part of the state’s commitment to providing abortion sanctuary in California. As Chancellor Gene Block said when Dobbs was announced, “Our university firmly supports individuals’ ability to access necessary health care services and make decisions about their own care in consultation with their medical teams.”