10.11.2019
Media

Young people led us to victory in California

Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the College Student Right to Access, or Senate Bill 24 by Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino). Advocates for Youth celebrates the signing of this historic bill that removes barriers to abortion access for young people by mandating all California public universities provide medication abortion, a simple two-pill procedure to safely terminate pregnancy, at their campus health centers. Senate Bill 24 began as a campus campaign when students at UC Berkeley saw a need on campus for medication abortion, and their tireless activism over the course of nearly four years eventually became a statewide legislative effort. 

SB24 centers the unique barriers young people face when seeking abortion care, and seeks to remedy them. At a time in which abortion is being threatened in the state houses, the federal government, and the Supreme Court, we celebrate this win in California and hope other states follow in its footsteps to pass proactive abortion access legislation. The signing of SB24 proves once again that young people are at the forefront of the abortion access movement, and their work should be taken seriously and uplifted. Advocates applauds all the youth activists who took part in this groundbreaking campaign.