San Francisco Mayor London Breed has announced a new ballot measure to protect abortion rights and reproductive care in the city.
The measure aims to establish the protection of reproductive rights as the official policy of San Francisco by prohibiting use of city funds to cooperate with the prosecution of an abortion or reproductive health service that is lawful in California. It also limits city funding toward crisis pregnancy centers, which are anti-abortion resource organizations that try to convince pregnant people to not get an abortion.
She announced the ballot measure Tuesday last week at a Planned Parenthood health center in San Francisco, alongside Supervisors Catherine Stefani, Myrna Melgar, Hillary Ronen and many local abortion rights advocates.
According to a statement released by her office, Breed intends for the measure titled the San Francisco Reproductive Freedom Act to not only add additional protections for those seeking reproductive health care, but to also signify a symbolic reaffirmation of San Francisco’s dedication to preserving abortion rights two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“This ballot measure secures access to reproductive services and abortions for women in our city, but it also sends a clear message across the nation that San Francisco continues to be a leader in supporting reproductive rights and we will not tolerate any level of disruption,” Breed said in a statement. “It is unthinkable that forces are at work to prevent a woman from being able to make decisions about her own body.”
According to the mayor’s office, the ballot measure will also ensure that no information that could be used to prosecute a patient or reproductive health care provider will be shared with jurisdictions outside of California.
“The San Francisco Reproductive Freedom Act further cements our city’s ongoing leadership and commitment to advancing reproductive rights for women at a time when they are under assault across the country,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement.
The mayor will sign the measure onto the November ballot, to be decided by voters.