The Future of Abortion Rights in California

John Zipperer
Vice President, Media & Editorial
jzipperer@commonwealthclub.org

MEDIA ADVISORY
The Commonwealth Club of California
110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105
commonwealthclub.org

(San Francisco) — The Commonwealth Club of California presents a panel of experts to discuss the United States Supreme Court decision on abortion rights in Dobbs v. Mississippi. This in-person and online program on The Future of Abortion Rights in California will take place on Tuesday June 28, 4–5 pm.

In the Dobbs decision, a 5-4 majority of the court voted to overturn Roe v Wade once and for all, and let individual states decide their own approaches to reproductive rights. With this decision, some 22 states are expected to quickly make abortion all but illegal, while California will likely remain one of the few where full abortion rights are guaranteed. Women in other states across the country are losing access to reproductive care overnight or will find services even more severely restricted. In California, women’s health-care providers and women’s rights organizations are gearing up for a massive influx of people seeking care and assistance, while some are already exploring how the state can become a sanctuary for women in search of reproductive health care. California's approach to protecting abortion rights will be one of the most watched in the country.

To mark this critical moment in the history of women’s rights and to explore the role that California could play in a post-Roe environment, The Commonwealth Club of California is joining with Women's March San Francisco for a special gathering. Speakers include: Gilda Gonzales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Northern California, California State Assemblymember (District 15) Buffy Wicks, Sylvia Ghazarian, executive director of the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, and  Amanda L. Tyler, the Shannon Cecil Turner Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Prof. Tyler, a former law clerk to the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Supreme Court, is the author of Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life's Work Fighting for a More Perfect Union.

With thanks to HBO/Warner Media, the gathering will also include a free community screening of the new HBO documentary The Janes, an in-depth exploration a clandestine abortion group that operated in Chicago before abortion rights were guaranteed by the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. The film screening will take place from 6–8 pm on Tuesday June 28.

The program is in-person and online and open to the public. Tickets may be purchased at https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2022-06-28/future-abortion-rights-california-gathering-voices

The Commonwealth Club of California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public forum that hosts hundreds of programs a year featuring speakers on a wide variety of topics and from a broad range of views. In addition to its live programs, it produces a weekly radio program—the nation’s oldest—that airs on 230 stations nationwide, a weekly TV program that airs in the Bay Area, and hundreds of podcasts and videos a year. Founded in 1903, The Commonwealth Club is the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum. For more information, visit commonwealthclub.org.

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The Commonwealth Club of California | 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 | commonwealthclub.org