Individuals can obtain an abortion in California, regardless of their age, immigration status, or whether they live inside or outside the state.
As an effect of the unanimity of the states in holding unborn children to be persons under criminal, tort, and property law, the text of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment compels federal protection of unborn persons.
The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from denying "the equal protection of the laws" to "any person." When the Amendment was adopted in 1868, the word "person" had a settled public meaning that included all human beings, including unborn children.
The state's highest court recognized abortion rights under the California Constitution in 1969, four years before Roe. State law protects the right to personal reproductive decisions. In November 2022, Californians approved Prop 1, which explicitly adds abortion and contraception rights to the state constitution.
In-clinic abortion (also known as surgical abortion) is offered up to 16 weeks and 0 days after the first day of your last menstrual period.
Protection of Unborn Children - 18 U.S. Code § 1841. Under federal law, harming an unborn child (in utero) during the commission of certain other crimes carries the same penalty as if you had committed the crime directly against the mother—and is charged as a separate offense. This law is embodied in Title 18 U.S.C.
In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the fetus' only inherent constitutionally protected right is the right to be born, overturning a High Court ruling that a fetus additionally possessed the children's rights guaranteed by Article 42A of the Constitution.
Procedural due process refers to the constitutional requirement that when the government acts in such a manner that denies a citizen of life, liberty, or property interest, the person must be given notice, the opportunity to be heard, and a decision by a neutral decision-maker.
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.