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LEGISLATING - Every year in Sacramento legislators submit hundreds to thousands of bills for consideration. One such bill currently submitted is AB315. In California our legislators could spend their time addressing any number of so many clearly evident problems – homelessness, crime and public safety, wildfires, energy issues, skyrocketing costs of living, etc. – so many issues that are driving residents from this state. Instead, though, they have chosen to manufacture a problem that doesn’t exist. They have chosen to target, discriminate, misrepresent, and patently assert factually incorrect information about certain community clinics licensed by the California Department of Public Health. Clinics that the data shows actually do a better job than the ones being favored by these same Sacramento politicians.
However, facts and rigorous, analytical studies do not matter to them – not if it goes against their narrative. If it contradicts their cult-like obsession to target these certain clinics whose only aim is to offer hope, help, and compassion for those who come through their doors as they navigate what might be difficult, stressful, or uncertain time. This help comes in the form of free services such as pregnancy tests, limited ultrasounds, peer mentorship, classes, and even material goods such diapers, baby hygiene items and clothes, along with connections to a wide array of other community resources. What isn’t offered by these clinics are abortion services, and because they do not perform or refer for terminations, they are vilified by politicians who believe a clinic must do so to garner their support.
In a state with as many problems as California, wouldn’t it seem as though politicians have better bills to write and more important things for the California State Legislature to concern itself than authorizing “the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a city attorney to file for injunctive relief or seek a civil penalty” or to “authorize a private right of action seeking injunctive relief, a monetary penalty of at least $1,000” against these clinics?
Apparently, these politicians must think that prosecutorial backlog has been eliminated, crime eradicated, and public safety ensured. Or, perhaps because they're without excuse for the real failures plaguing the state that they think congesting court calendars with ludicrous lawsuits will serve to misdirect the people’s attention away from the real issues on which they should be concerned.
In short, what these legislators are doing is really a near inconceivable irony. The “Sacramento elite” reject giving women a choice to obtain important information to consider before making an irreversible decision and to ascertain possible alternatives to abortion just because it challenges the preconceived notions of these politicians.
Legislators use women as their bargaining chip in claims they make, all while ignoring the fact that twice as many women as men experience depression the largest abortion mental health study of over 877,000 women conducted by the British Journal of Psychiatry has shown that, “Women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81% increased risk of mental health problems, and nearly 10% of the incidence of mental health problems was shown to be attributable to abortion.” Not to mention that this is taking place all while there are record high cases of anxiety, depression, and despair with 75% of Generation Z saying that they need more emotional support.
In this world of great need, this is nearly the equivalent of supporting the suing of soup kitchens because they don’t offer the flavor of soup that someone wants. Meanwhile, state-run programs, such as the EDD, have resulted in billions of dollars in fraud, yet instead of fixing what’s fouled up in government, they attack clinics offering hope and help. Crazy!
((Mihran Kalaydjian is Vice President Chair Education Public Health of the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council and a contributor to CityWatch. [email protected])
