(1) Existing law requires a county coroner to hold inquests to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of violent, sudden, or unusual deaths, including deaths related to or following known or suspected self-induced or criminal abortion. Existing law requires a coroner to register a fetal death after 20 weeks of gestation, unless it is the result of a legal abortion. If a physician was not in attendance at the delivery of the fetus, existing law requires the fetal death to be handled as a death without medical attendance. Existing law requires the coroner to state on the certificate of fetal death the time of fetal death, the direct causes of the fetal death, and the conditions, if any, that gave rise to these causes.
This bill would delete the requirement that a coroner hold inquests for deaths related to or following known or suspected self-induced or criminal abortion, and would delete the requirement that an unattended fetal death be handled as a death without medical attendance. The bill would prohibit using the coroner's statements on the certificate of fetal death to establish, bring, or support a criminal prosecution or civil cause of damages against a person who is immune from liability based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome, or who aids a pregnant person in exercising their rights under the Reproductive Privacy Act, as specified.
(2) Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, provides that every individual possesses a fundamental right of privacy with respect to their personal reproductive decisions. Existing law prohibits the state from interfering with a pregnant person's right to choose or obtain an abortion before the fetus is viable or when it is necessary to protect the life and health of the pregnant person. Under existing law, an abortion is unauthorized if either the person performing the abortion is not a health care provider that is authorized to perform an abortion or the fetus is viable.
Existing law, the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, authorizes an individual whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, to institute or prosecute in their own name and on their own behalf an action for damages, as prescribed.
This bill would prohibit a person from being subject to civil or criminal liability, or otherwise deprived of their rights, based on their actions or omissions with respect to their pregnancy or actual, potential, or alleged pregnancy outcome or based solely on their actions to aid or assist a woman or pregnant person who is exercising their reproductive rights. The bill would clarify that an abortion is unauthorized if performed by a person other than the pregnant person and either the person performing the abortion is not a health care provider that is authorized to perform an abortion or the fetus is viable. The bill would authorize a party whose rights are protected by the Reproductive Privacy Act to bring a civil action against an offending state actor when those rights are interfered with by conduct or by statute, ordinance, or other state or local rule, regulation, or enactment in violation of the act, as specified, and would require a court, upon a motion, to award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff. The bill would also authorize a person aggrieved by a violation of the Reproductive Privacy Act to bring a civil action pursuant to the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act. The bill would provide for the indemnification of employees or former employees of public agencies who were acting within the scope of their employment.
(3) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 123466 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by AB 2091 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2091 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Statutes affected:
03/17/22 - Amended Assembly: 27491 GOV, 103000 HSC, 103005 HSC, 123462 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123468 HSC
04/06/22 - Amended Assembly: 27491 GOV, 103000 HSC, 103005 HSC, 123462 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123468 HSC
05/19/22 - Amended Assembly: 27491 GOV, 103000 HSC, 103005 HSC, 123462 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123468 HSC
06/20/22 - Amended Senate: 27491 GOV, 103000 HSC, 103005 HSC, 123462 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123468 HSC
08/25/22 - Amended Senate: 27491 GOV, 103000 HSC, 103005 HSC, 123462 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123468 HSC
09/01/22 - Enrolled: 27491 GOV, 103000 HSC, 103005 HSC, 123462 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123468 HSC
09/27/22 - Chaptered: 27491 GOV, 103000 HSC, 103005 HSC, 123462 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123466 HSC, 123468 HSC