Proposition 1, titled Constitutional Right to Reproductive Freedom and initially known as Senate Constitutional Amendment 10 (SCA 10), was a California ballot proposition and state constitutional amendment that was voted on in the 2022 general election on . Passing with more than of the vote, the proposition amended the Constitution of California to explicitly grant the right to an abortion and contraceptives, making California among the first states in the nation to codify the right. The decision to propose the codification of abortion rights in the state constitution was precipitated in May 2022 by Politicos publishing of a leaked draft opinion showing the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The decision reversed judicial precedent that previously held that the United States Constitution protected the right to an abortion.

The proposition was placed on the ballot as a result of a joint effort by California's leading Democrats: Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President pro tempore Toni Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. The constitutional amendment passed the California State Senate in a vote on , and the California State Assembly with a vote on June 27 – ahead of a June 30 deadline to have the amendment voted on in November. On July 1, California Secretary of State, Shirley Weber, formally designated the amendment as Proposition 1, making the proposed constitutional amendment the first ballot measure in California since 2008, when Proposition 4 – an initiative that would have imposed a waiting period on abortions and required parental notification in the case of minors – was rejected.

Polling on Proposition 1 consistently showed that to of California voters supported the proposition, and suggested that the ballot measure would pass by a wide margin. The ballot measure derived most of its support from the California Democratic Party, feminists, medical professional organizations, labor unions, and newspaper editorial boards. Some supporters said the amendment would codify existing law, and protect Californian women from restrictive abortion policies. Opposition to Proposition 1 came from the California Republican Party, some Christian organizations, and groups. Part of the opposition argued that the ballot measure would legalize abortion.

Background Constitutional amendment procedure

Any amendment to the Constitution of California requires the passage of a California ballot proposition by a simple majority of the voters. A constitutional amendment may be placed on the ballot by either a vote in the California State Legislature, or though an initiative attaining signatures equal to eight percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election through the exercise of the initiative power by the voters.

California abortion law

In the first session of the California State Legislature in 1850, the legislature passed the Crimes and Punishments Act, which criminalized an abortion in all circumstances except to save a woman's life. The State Legislature amended California's abortion law in 1967 with the Therapeutic Abortion Act, signed by Governor Ronald Reagan in June, which extended the right to an abortion in cases of rape and incest up to 20 weeks of pregnancy. In 1969, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling in People v. Belous that upheld the right to an abortion and struck down section 274 of the California Penal Code, which had defined the punishment for people who provided, supplied, or administered an abortion. The state voted in 1972 to pass Proposition 11, which amended the state constitution to include a right to privacy. Through Proposition 11, the California Supreme Court ruled in Committee to Defend Reproductive Rights v. Myers in 1981 that the constitutionally protected right to privacy included the right to choose whether to have an abortion, preventing Medi-Cal from restricting abortion coverage.

In September 1987, Governor George Deukmejian signed Assembly Bill 2274, which required unemancipated minors have parental consent before receiving an abortion, providing an exception for medical emergencies. The parental consent law was upheld in 1996 in a ruling by the California Supreme Court in American Academy of Pediatrics v. Lungren, with the majority stating that the constitutional right to privacy did not extend to minors due to them not having the same rights as adults. The following year, the case was reheard after two members of the 1996 majority decision retired and were succeeded by Governor Pete Wilson's appointees. The law was found unconstitutional, with the California Supreme Court ruling that AB 2274 violated the right to privacy in the state constitution.

In 2002, Governor Gray Davis signed the Reproductive Privacy Act, which legalized abortion up to fetal viability, whereafter abortions can only be performed if continued pregnancy poses a risk to the woman's life. In 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed the Reproductive FACT (Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency) Act, requiring crisis pregnancy centers to disclose that the state provides family planning services, prenatal care, and abortion at low to no cost and state that they are unlicensed medical facilities. The law was struck down as unconstitutional in a ruling in 2018 by the United States Supreme Court in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, finding that the FACT Act violated the First Amendment. In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the College Student Right to Access Act, which required public universities to provide abortion medication on campus from January 2023, the first law of its kind in the United States. Newsom's predecessor, Brown, vetoed a similar bill in 2018.

In the session of the State Legislature, 16 bills were introduced in either the Assembly or the Senate to improve abortion access and legal protections in the state. Before Senate Constitutional Amendment 10 passed the legislature, two of the bills had been signed into law by Newsom, eliminating expenses for abortions and protecting Californians from civil liability cases in states with contradictory abortion laws. California's move to strengthen abortion rights was part of a broader effort throughout the United States in anticipation of the United States Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which would potentially result in the court overturning or weakening Roe v. Wade. The legislation and actions taken by Newsom represent California's intention to become a sanctuary state for abortion rights, a term previously used in reference to the state's response to immigration.

By the end of the session on August 31, the State Legislature passed an additional series of legislation. One bill further protected residents from litigation related to abortion, prohibiting California law enforcement agencies from cooperating with authorities in other states on investigations in cases where it is legal in California and increasing digital privacy protections by banning tech companies from providing the reproductive information they store with authorities enforcing abortion bans. Other legislation imposed limitations on the sharing of medical records and ended the requirement for coroners to investigate or criminal abortions or allow prosecution or civil action against people based on a fetal death certificate. The legislation would also allow nurse practitioners to carry out the procedure without physician supervision, limit the suspension of licensing and certification of abortion providers, permit residents access to the Abortion Practical Support Fund to help them obtain abortions, create a website for abortion services, and establishing grants for providers and programs that assist and communities. After vetoing AB 2320 on September 22, Newsom signed 13 of the bills into law on September 27.

Previous propositions

In 2005, 2006, and 2008, there were three initiatives – Proposition 73, Proposition 85, and Proposition 4 respectively – that would have established parental notification and a mandatory waiting period on abortions in California. All three proposals were rejected by the voters. Proposition 73 caused concern for its opponents by defining abortion as the "death of the unborn child" instead of using clinical terms such as fetus or embryo. When Proposition 85 was placed on the ballot in 2006, the proposed constitutional amendment instead defined abortion as "the use of any means to terminate the pregnancy". The parental notification initiative underwent another revision before appearing on the 2008 ballot, allowing doctors to notify an adult family member other than the parent if the latter was abusive. The effort to establish a parental notification law in California was largely funded by San Diego Reader owner Jim Holman and winemaker Don Sebastiani. 2008 marked the last time California voters decided on an proposition.

Impetus for new proposition

On , Politico published a leaked draft opinion of Dobbs, which showed the Supreme Court overturning Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and determining that the federal constitution did not grant a right to an abortion. In response to the draft opinion, Newsom, Senate President pro tempore Toni Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon issued a joint statement of their intent to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution through an amendment. On June 24, the Supreme Court overturned Roe and Casey, with the final opinion being largely similar to the leaked draft opinion.

Due to the Supreme Court decision and abortion bans in other states, California experienced an increase of patients seeking abortions, with Planned Parenthood saying that the majority of new patients came from Texas. Just weeks after Roes reversal, Planned Parenthood experienced an 847% increase in Arizona patients, with most patients traveling along in Southern California and lengthening wait times at a Planned Parenthood clinic in El Centro. With abortion banned in Arizona, some of the state's abortion providers stated their plans on opening clinics on the western side of the state border in California. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the number of patients seeking abortions in California could increase from 46,000 to 1.4 million on an annual basis. The UCLA School of Law Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy made a more conservative estimate, approximating that 10,600 more people will come to California for abortion services each year.

California was one of six US states that voted on an ballot measure in 2022, the most to occur in the US in a single year, with votes also occurring in Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont. Of the six, three – California, Michigan, and Vermont – asked voters to enshrine the right to an abortion in their respective state constitutions, while the other states worked to implement restrictive abortion policies. On August 2, Kansas voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have stated that the state constitution did not grant the right to an abortion. There was uncertainty whether abortion rights would be put to a vote in Michigan, with the initiative having collected more than 700,000 signatures, the most for any petition in state history, as the Michigan Board of State Canvassers rejected the initiative in a vote split between Democrats and Republicans on August 31. On September 8, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered the Board of State Canvassers to certify the initiative and place it on the ballot in a decision, which the board did the next day on September 9.

Legislative process

Proposed constitutional changes

The constitutional amendment would add Section 1.1 to Article I of the state constitution to read:

Senate