California lawmakers pass bill to hide all information from abortion pill prescriptions

Lawmakers in California passed a bill last week that will allow abortionists to keep all identifying information — including their names, the distributing pharmacies, and patients' names — off of abortion pill bottles.

Key Takeaways:

• AB 260 allows the mailing of abortion pills without the prescriber's info, the pharmacy info, or the patient's name on the bill bottle.

• The bill is meant to protect abortionists who may be subject to litigation or legal action for mailing abortion pills into states where abortion is restricted.

• This bill has no safeguards to prevent abusers from obtaining the pills to force abortions upon unsuspecting women — something that is already occurring.

• Gov. Gavin Newsom has until October 12 to either sign or veto the bill.

The Details:

California Assembly Bill 260 passed the state's Senate on September 9 and Assembly on September 10.

The legislation was crafted to protect abortionists who mail the abortion pill to states where abortion is restricted by allowing the abortionist to omit his or her name from the pill bottle. It is designed to make it harder for pro-life states or entities to proceed with legal action against these abortionists, and comes as at least one California abortionist is facing a lawsuit for mailing abortion pills to a man in Texas, who then coerced his estranged wife to abort another man's preborn child — twice.

According to the legislation:

The bill would authorize a pharmacist to dispense mifepristone or other drug used for medication abortion without the name of the patient, the name of the prescriber, or the name and address of the pharmacy, subject to specified requirements.

The prescribing pharmacy would be required to keep a record with the patient's name and other identifying information, but the abortion pill bottle itself will be "bare bones," without even the name of the patient listed.

The legislation also notes that the pharmacy's record “ is not open to inspection by law enforcement without a subpoena and would prohibit the disclosure of the information to an individual or entity from another state.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has an extensive history promoting abortion, has until October 12 to either sign or veto the bill.

Why It Matters:

California is not the first state to pass a shield bill allowing abortionists to keep their names off abortion pills — New York and Massachusetts both have these laws — but it is the first state to take it a step further by attempting to keep all identifying information off abortion pill bottles.

Removing identifying information, including the patient's name, enhances the risk of what has already been shown to be a very risky drug. And without a name, it's very easy for the drugs to wind up in the hands of the wrong person.

Ameet Sarpatwari, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told The New York Times that “patient names have historically been on prescriptions and packaging to safeguard safety and prevent misuse and abuse.” 

The California legislation has no safeguards to prevent against such abuse.

As Live Action News has reported, this abuse is already happening; the relaxed safety standards currently permitted with the drugs' distribution have resulted in abortion pills being ordered by abusive men, who then use the drugs to force abortions upon unwilling or unwitting pregnant women.

Commentary:

James Bopp Jr., the general counsel for National Right to Life, told The New York Times the legislation is "almost horrifying," as there will be “no accountability for abortion drugs or the people that prescribed them ... Even if you find the doctor, they could say, ‘Well I didn’t prescribe those pills.’ How are you going to prove that the pills she took in this box with no names on it were the ones that he prescribed?”

Likewise, the California Family Council warned "this bill shields reckless practices and removes any last shred of oversight, precaution, or transparency."

The Bottom Line:

California's legislation, if signed into law, will make it even easier for abusers to get their hands on the abortion pill, and for women to continue to experience abortion pill injuries.

It does nothing to protect women, while going above and beyond to protect abortionists who make a profit from the killing of preborn children.