San Mateo County stands by reproductive protections

County officials gave the green light to begin advocating for more than a dozen state and federal initiatives meant to support access to abortion care following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision from 1973 that protected the right to abortion care.

On the list of state priorities is support for establishing civil and criminal safeguards for those receiving or providing reproductive care, providing financial assistance to medical providers treating underserved communities, funding outreach efforts and research into unmet needs and establishing a fund for providing practical assistance to those seeking care including child care, travel costs and food.

But the most important issue is sharing “explicit” support for Proposition 1, said Slocum who sits on the Women’s Reproductive Rights and Healthcare Privacy Subcommittee with Supervisor Dave Pine.

The proposition will appear on the November ballot and, if approved, will amend the state Constitution to prohibit the state from interfering with an individual’s reproductive freedom, including abortion care.

At the federal level, supervisors backed calls for codifying abortion protections nationally, protecting consumer privacy around reproductive care, funding reproductive health care providers and instituting other protections for patients and providers.

“Things will be happening quickly in Sacramento and Washington so we want to make sure that we have the flexibility we need to stand up for our priorities and principles,” Pine said.

County officials have taken a number of steps to show support for reproductive freedoms locally. In addition to unanimously affirming the county’s “unwavering support for women’s reproductive freedom and health care privacy,” supervisors adopted a $1 million Women’s Reproductive Freedom and Healthcare Privacy Action Plan.

Much of those funds will go to supporting services provided by Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the health care giant’s largest affiliate nationwide providing medical care to more than 220,000 patients from the Bay Area to Northern Nevada. Dollars will also go toward improving services offered to residents covered by the county’s health plan.

Mar Monte officials have lauded the support from county officials and assert it comes at a time when out-of-state patients are expected to substantially increase. Current estimates indicate somewhere between 200 and 500 additional new visits will occur at each of their 30 clinics across parts of California and Nevada per week.

And with a greater number of patients coming to states like California for care, the health care provider and local officials have shared concerns protesters at the county’s three Mar Monte sites will increase. With that in mind, county officials have begun working with legal counsel to develop a buffer zone ordinance to create some protections around what centers are in their jurisdiction while calling on cities to take similar steps to protect abortion care providers in their boundaries.

“In the wake of the Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, it’s become of course apparent that we need to take every action we possibly can at the local level to protect reproductive rights,” Pine said during Tuesday’s meeting, adding in the press release, “San Mateo County will continue to lead on abortion access and women’s reproductive freedom.”

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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