WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — West Sacramento reaffirmed its commitment to reproductive rights at an Aug. 17 council meeting.
The council unanimously voted to pass a resolution classifying the city as a safeguard for bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, meaning it supports the right to reproductive care access and education to fight disinformation.
The resolution was drafted after the Supreme Court's decision overturning the landmark ruling Roe v. Wade, as well as the presence of a mobile Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC) operated by an anti-abortion support group in Yolo County. Planned Parenthood representative Candelaria Vargas says the organization operating the CPC is misguiding women from accessing reproductive care.
“What it means is to ensure that our residents know that West Sacramento is a safe place,” West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero said. “So that they can access services if they need services for an abortion, or deciding what to do with a situation in making sure that they are making that choice on their own, and for women to have the opportunity to decide what they want to do with their body.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state legislature reassured California residents safe and guaranteed access to abortion services is available to all shortly after the Dobbs decision.
“I think women have to be empowered and not go back to where we were before,” Guerrero said. “What happened in the Supreme Court is not going to infringe on their decisions that they have to make with their own body.”
West Sacramento's independent resolution does not affect the access all Californians have, but it does provide additional education and support in defense of women's right to choose.
“It's really a reassurance for community members that if anything comes to happen to infringe upon those rights, that their leaders are at the ready,” Planned Parenthood Mar Monte representative Candelaria Vargas said. “The governor has been great, the legislature has been great, but folks also like to hear in their cities – that their cities and their communities are also safe.”
The effort comes after claims a mobile care center has been offering free pregnancy services alongside unsolicited anti-abortion counseling.
These CPCs are not new or uncommon in California and about 90% are privately funded by anti-abortion organizations allegedly targeting vulnerable young women and groups most affected by health care access, including women of color, low-income and less educated women, according to a 2015 report by the San Francisco City Attorney's Office.
The report highlights a number of tactics and data CPCs use to disinform women seeking pregnancy care and abortion services like "incorrectly telling women that abortion leads to serious, immediate and long-term complications including mental disorders, breast cancer and future infertility."
“In the end, it [misinformation] ends up delaying the ability to seek health care, which is dangerous when you're trying to receive care in a timely fashion," Vargas said.
The city is using its resolution to inform residents of the reproductive care offered by the state and take steps to offer education combatting disinformation by CPCs.
“We're also going to be doing teachings as well,” Guerrero said. “Via Zoom or in person, just to make sure residents are aware of the resources that they can access here in California.”
According to Mayor Guerrero, the city worked closely with Planned Parenthood while drafting and approving the resolution, which was officially handed to Vargas Tuesday afternoon on behalf of the council.
“Having folks know that their community leaders are supportive of abortion access and reproductive health care access is very important,” Vargas said. “They're standing strong with their community and they're sharing that they're going to be supported no matter what and they're gonna get the health care they deserve no matter what.”
ABC10 reached out to the organization operating the mobile pregnancy center in Yolo County. They were unavailable to provide a statement at this time.
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