Since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down abortion rights in 2022, providers across California have seen an increase in protests outside clinics and have struggled to increase security measures, lobbying cities to pass regulations intended to protect patients from outside chaos.
A bill signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday takes a statewide approach to deterrence, increasing criminal penalties for those who harass or threaten patients who enter an abortion clinic. The law overturns a decades-old federal law that made it illegal to threaten or harass people outside of abortion clinics and churches.
The legislation comes as spending on security measures for Planned Parenthood clinics in the Los Angeles area has “quadrupled” since the overturning of the landmark case Roe vs. Wade, according to Sue Dunlap, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles.
Dunlap did not disclose the amount of dollars spent on security but said it has been used in part to hire guards and “well into seven figures” – a total that was “unimaginable” just a few years ago. Thousands of protesters have rallied outside 24 Los Angeles County clinics in the past year, he said, and providers “regularly” call law enforcement to help control it.
“Without question, the type of harassment outside of our health center, and what I would call terrorism directed at patients, staff and mission, is on the rise,” Dunlap said. “All the protests that we imagine happening in other areas are also happening here.”
While they welcome the added protections, abortion providers also worry that acknowledging the growing problem of protests will deter women from seeking care.
“I said we also want to emphasize that we are working hard to make sure the health center is a safe and secure place,” Dunlap said. “But the challenge of doing that, really ensuring that security, has increased over the last few years.”
Abortion rights remain protected in California but providers across the state say harassment has increased since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to repeal federal abortion protections for all Americans. Abortion rights are now left up to individual states, leaving millions across the country without access to care.
Earlier this year, an Orange County man was sentenced to nine years in prison for bombing a Planned Parenthood clinic in Costa Mesa. Last year, a San Bernardino County man was sentenced to more than two years in prison for shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Pasadena.
Cities including Sacramento and Walnut Creek have passed ordinances since the Supreme Court decision requiring “buffer zones” outside abortion clinics, ordering protesters to stay eight feet away from patients. They have also passed ordinances restricting the use of megaphones and other sound amplifiers because patients reported hearing antiabortion chants from inside the exam room.
Similar laws have been on the books for years in several states, including San Francisco, but abortion clinic officials say they are difficult to enforce. The ordinance also opens the city to lawsuits over 1st Amendment rights.
This summer, San Diego amended its decades-old buffer zone law, requiring patients seeking treatment at abortion clinics to give consent before protesters can approach them “verbally or physically.” Antiabortion activists sued the city saying the new policy violates free speech rights.
“In no other health care setting should patients and providers be unfairly and inadvertently met with hostile opposition,” said Jodi Hicks, executive chair of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, which supported the bill.
A new state law means people who violate the California Freedom of Access to Clinics and Church Entrances Act could face felony charges. Under the original law, which was passed in 2001 and mirrors federal law, those who intimidate, threaten or harm patients entering a reproductive health clinic could face misdemeanor charges, up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $50,000, depending on the crime. .
The new law makes the crime a felony instead of a misdemeanor.
The bill was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which said that while it supports abortion access, expanding criminal penalties would not deter the behavior and would increase the cost of state prisons.
The laws on the books are pretty good, the ACLU says, and lawmakers should focus their attention on making sure they’re better enforced.
Even before the Supreme Court decision struck down federal abortion protections, abortion clinics in Northern California struggled with ongoing protests, motivating health officials to relocate facilities in San Francisco and Walnut Creek in an effort to reduce disruption.
After the decision in 2022, Planned Parenthood Northern California called for volunteers to escort patients to clinic doors, noting an increase in protests.
Last week, abortion clinics across the country were preparing to kick off 40 Days for Life, a coordinated national antiabortion campaign. While the organization advertised the event as a “peaceful” night, California clinics have reported their members to authorities for being harassed.
In Walnut Creek, 40 Days for Life hired armed security guards to protect protesters outside Planned Parenthood, and was charged with battery after using pepper spray on counterprotesters, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office.
Representatives for 40 Days for Life’s Walnut Creek and Sacramento chapters did not return requests for comment.
“Even in California, the state of reproductive freedom, we continue to deal with hostile and aggressive opposition that requires us to go beyond routine surgery, which is costly and unnecessary,” said Gilda Gonzales, chief executive of Planned Parenthood Northern California.
