California will allow its voters to decide if abortion and contraception rights may be added to the state constitution during the November elections.

The state legislature approved the measure for the the ballot to ask if “the state shall not deny or interfere with an individual’s reproductive freedom in their most intimate decisions, which includes their fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”

“California will not back down from the fight to protect abortion rights as more than half the states in this country, enabled by the Supreme Court, ban or severely restrict access,” said Governor Gavin Newsom Monday. “We are ensuring Californians will have the opportunity this November to enshrine the right to choose in our state constitution.”

In addition to the ballot measure, Newsom signed an executive order that would make California what he called “a reproductive safe haven” for women who travel from other states for reproductive services by not distributing patient information to out-of-state sources.

“California will not cooperate,” Newsom said in a pre-recorded message on the matter. “Make this clear, we will not cooperate with out-of-state investigations or politicians trying to extradite doctors in California who provide care to out-of-state patients here.”

While California currently offers abortion care under the state’s constitutional right to privacy, legislators felt the ballot initiative would remove ambiguity for potential future issues that may stem from the Supreme Court’s recent ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

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