If Roe is overturned, Southern California could be haven for choice and outrage
ANDRE MOUCHARD, DAVID DOWNEY and BRIAN WHITEHEAD, OC Register:: "Since September, when Texas enacted a controversial law that outlaws abortion after a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat (typically around six weeks), the number of out-of-state women seeking to terminate their pregnancies at Planned Parenthood clinics in Southern California has roughly quadrupled, according to officials from local chapters of that organization.
But that trend could kick into overdrive if Roe is struck down as a leaked Supreme Court draft decision suggested. At least 26 states are poised to ban or severely restrict abortion if and when the Supreme Court takes action, states that include about 58% of American women of child-bearing age.
In a post-Roe world, many of those women will turn to California, where abortion rules are arguably the most lenient in the country."
California could be home to almost 30% of America's abortion clinics if Roe v. Wade is overturned
The Chronicle, SUSIE NEILSON: "If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe V. Wade this summer, as a recently leaked draft opinion indicates it will, clinic shutdowns across the country could mean that California ends up being home to nearly 30% of all abortion clinics in the U.S., despite having just 12% of its population.
The Chronicle examined data on nearly 800 clinics that were open and providing abortions in 2021. The data was collected by UCSF’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program, or ANSIRH. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice policy organization, 26 U.S. states are likely or certain to pass near-total or total bans on abortion immediately if Roe is overturned.
If these 26 states lost all of their open abortion clinics, the overall number of clinics in the U.S. would drop by 26%, or from 790 clinics to 588, according to the ANSIRH data. California had 168 clinics as of last year; if that number stayed constant, it would go from having 21% of all clinics in the country to about 29%."
LAPD, protesters clash downtown after rally against overturning of Roe vs. Wade
ANDREW J. CAMPA, GREGORY YEE and NATHAN SOLIS, LA Times: "Police and protesters briefly clashed in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday night after a rally protesting the possible overturning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision made its way from a federal courthouse to Pershing Square.
The brief clash came after roughly 400 people gathered in front of the federal courthouse at 1st and Broadway earlier Tuesday night, less than 24 hours after Politico obtained a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion that seemed to signal the court was poised to overturn the landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion nationwide.
Amid the sound of blaring car horns, abortion rights advocates spoke in front of the courthouse and held signs that read, “We need to talk about the elephant in the womb,” “I am a woman not a womb” and “Pro-woman, pro-child, pro-choice.”
States Move to Restrict or Protect Abortion Rights After Leak of Draft Opinion Overturning Roe v. Wade
JENNIFER CALFAX, LAURA KUSISTO and JIMMY VIELKIND, Wall Street Journal: "State political leaders across the country proposed new laws and staked out positions as a leak of a draft opinion indicated the Supreme Court could soon overturn Roe v. Wade, which would make the legality of abortions a state issue.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, tweeted Tuesday that she would immediately call for a special session if Roe is overturned “to save lives and guarantee that every unborn child has a right to life in South Dakota.” In Alabama, a legislative leader promised quick action “to quickly end abortion within our borders.”
Top Democratic lawmakers in New York and California, meanwhile, said they would push to amend their state constitutions to cement existing laws that protect abortion rights. Legislative leaders in California are aiming to put an amendment before voters on the November ballot if it can pass the Democratic-controlled legislature with a supermajority by June."
Barreling at us.’ Leaked Supreme Court draft turbocharges abortion activism for midterms
MELANIE MASON and SEEMA META: "Activists on both sides of the abortion debate have spent months planning for a blockbuster Supreme Court ruling this year on Roe vs. Wade. None of those plans anticipated the particular jolt on Monday night, when a leaked draft opinion signaled a decisive end to the decades-long precedent.
The disclosure accelerated plans already in the works for the upcoming midterm elections, especially in states holding marquee gubernatorial and Senate races, such as Georgia and Arizona. While Republicans have been more effective in rallying supporters around abortion in the past, Democrats believe the reality of Roe’s seemingly imminent reversal may galvanize their voters to avoid steep losses in November.
Still, supporters and opponents of abortion access took care to hedge their messaging on Tuesday, mindful that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.‘s proposed revocation of nationwide abortion protections telegraphed where the conservative court was leaning but was not its final say."
Capitol Weekly Podcast: Special Episode with Paul Mitchell: How Will the Overturn of Roe Affect the 2022 Elections?
Staff: "Politico published a bombshell report: a leaked draft of a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established federal abortion rights. The 98 page draft of Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion for the majority castigates the original decision as “egregiously wrong from the start” and also revokes Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
If the draft is accurate, and the Court does upend Roe – which most observers believe it will – that decision may have a profound impact on the 2022 election.
For this Special Episode we asked Paul Mitchell, one of California’s leading political data analysts, to weigh in on the likely effects of the decision. Paul is a regular contributor to Capitol Weekly, and is by no means a disinterested observer: he is married to Jodi Hicks, the President of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California."
Three charged with murder in connection with Sacramento mass shooting. Here’s what we know
SAM STANTON, SacBee: "Sacramento prosecutors have filed the first murder charges in the April 3 gang shootout downtown, charging brothers Smiley Martin and Dandrae Martin and fugitive Mtula Payton each with three counts stemming from the shooting deaths of three women killed in the crossfire.
Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester announced the charges Tuesday afternoon as prosecutors filed court documents outlining the precise details of the 2 a.m. shootout that killed six people and wounded 12 gathered near 10th and K streets.
“This was a gun battle between two rival gangs,” Schubert said. “The evidence shows that the rival gang members armed themselves with weapons.”
COVID in California: Bay Area COVID infections rise 167% in a month
The Chronicle, AIDIN VAZIRI, CATHERINE HO and RITA BEAMISH: "As COVID-19 case rates tick up across the Bay Area and California, San Francisco and Santa Cruz counties reported the highest rates of coronavirus infections in California so far this week. The Bay Area saw a 167% increase in coronavirus infections in April, the same month that California dropped most of its COVID mitigation measures, like mask requirements on public transit.
S.F. and Santa Cruz top state in infection rates: San Francisco and Santa Cruz counties have the highest coronavirus infection rates in the state, as of Tuesday, each reporting an average of 38 cases per 100,000 residents. That’s up from about three per 100,000 a month ago. The numbers counts are likely undercounts since now-prevalent at-home tests do not typically get reported to the system. San Francisco’s coronavirus test positive rate reached 7.9% on Tuesday, according to new city data. The rate is more than double the 3.2% test positive rate for California as a whole, and above the 5% threshold public health experts consider acceptable for controlling the spread of the virus. Read more here.
New Bay Area infections up 167% in a month: An upturn in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the Bay Area is beginning to gather steam, as new COVID-19 infections in the region have risen 167% in the same month that saw the state dropping most mitigation measures, including vaccine verification and mask requirements for schools and public transit. Read the full story."
Exodus: Bay Area, California population dropped in 2021 as people exited
GEORGE AVALOS, Merecury News: "The population in the Bay Area and California shrank during 2021 for the second consecutive year in a slump that was driven in large part by big declines in San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, according to a new state report.
In an unsettling twist, San Jose no longer has 1 million residents, the state Department of Finance report determined.
As of 2021, San Jose — still the Bay Area’s largest city — had an estimated population of 976,500. The U.S. Census official report released in 2020 had placed San Jose’s population at 1.01 million people."
Oakland could open homeless shelter for 1,000 people on former Army base
SARAH RAVANI, Chronicxle: "Oakland will look into opening a massive homeless shelter for up to 1,000 people on the former army base, as the city continues to struggle with a skyrocketing homeless population and encampments in many neighborhoods.
The city has long struggled with too few shelter beds and little investment in permanent supportive housing, but officials are now opening or looking at expanding shelters, affordable housing, safe RV sites, tiny homes, pallet villages and other models to get people indoors.
The Oakland City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to direct the city to study whether it can house up to 1,000 unsheltered people at a 22-acre site that would become the city’s largest shelter."
Housing affordability plummets in California, Sacramento region.
RYAN LILLIS, SacBee: "Fewer than one-quarter of California families can afford to purchase the typical single-family home as the housing affordability crisis continues to hit every corner of the state.
A new analysis by the California Association of Realtors shows the percentage of families in many parts of the state who could afford the median-priced home fell significantly during the first three months of 2022 compared to the same time period last year. The drop was particularly striking in the Sacramento region. Just 34% of Sacramento and Placer county families could afford a median-priced home during the first quarter of 2022.
That mark stood at 41% in Sacramento and 39% in Placer last year."
California expanding community college baccalaureate programs
EMMA GALLEGOS, EdSource: "The community college baccalaureate program is on the precipice of expanding in California.
Program proponents say the more advanced bachelor’s degree offerings by colleges that typically offer associate degrees are key to training California’s workforce and expanding degrees among the underserved students of California’s community college system.
“It’s the equity answer to baccalaureate attainment,” said Kern Community College District Chancellor Sonya Christian."
After more than a century, California condors soar over Yurok tribal lands once again
NATHAN SOLIS, LA Times: "After being pushed to the brink of extinction, California condors have returned to a slice of Northern California habitat for the first time in 130 years. On Tuesday, four of the big birds flew the coop after being born in a captive-breeding program.
A livestream from the Yurok Tribe and the Redwood National and State Parks went live at 8 a.m. but the birds did not seem too bothered by their schedule. The New World vultures selected for the momentous occasion betrayed little on whether they would take flight from their designated staging area in Northern California near the Klamath River.
On Tuesday morning, Yurok Wildlife Department Director Tiana Williams-Claussen, a Yurok citizen and traditional culture bearer, narrated the event in hushed tones near the birds’ pen."
