Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, A Democrat from Orinda, worked with Assemblymembers Mia Bonta of Oakland, Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens and many other co-authors to pass Assembly Bill 1242. The bill was also sponsored by state Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Language in the bill would create a legal path protecting reproductive digital information, in addition to preventing the arrest or turnover of information in investigations related to abortions that are legal in the state, the California Department of Justice said.
Bonta said the state "will not stand idly by as anti-choice states across the nation take radical action to criminalize reproductive rights."
The bill would prohibit the arrest of anyone "aiding or performing a lawful abortion in California" and prohibits law enforcement in the state from sharing information or aiding out-of-state agencies in an investigation related to a lawful abortion.
AB 1242 would also require out-of-state law enforcement agencies seeking records from corporations in California to attest that the investigation does not involve any crime related to an abortion that is lawful under California law.
The California Department of Justice said that if another state wanted to track the movement of someone traveling to California for reproductive health care, the bill would block the state from accessing cellphone site tower location data of the person by serving a warrant to the tech company in California.
