California's Newsom Prioritizes Animal's Lives Over Babies

January 17, 2020

CC Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr, cropped

Recently, The Sacramento Bee reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced his plan to end animal euthanasia in California, making California a “no-kill state.” The governor’s plan calls for the allocation of $50 million dollars to “achieve the state’s policy goal that no adoptable or treatable dog or cat should be euthanized.”

While ending the practice of euthanizing unwanted or stray animals is indeed a laudable goal, for pro-lifers the hypocrisy of Governor Newsom is hard to miss. While claiming California will become a “no-kill” state for stray or unwanted dogs and cats, Governor Newsom has done nothing to alleviate the elimination of the most innocent and vulnerable Californians: the unborn.

Governor Newsom campaigned on legislation to convert student health clinics on California public university campuses into dispensaries for chemical abortion drugs. The legislature obliged, and he signed into law California Senate Bill 24. This legislation will only add to the tragically high number of abortions in the state. Last year, there were 132,680 abortions in California alone, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute. Rather than being concerned with human life, Governor Newsom is more concerned with expanding abortion rights.

California is undoubtedly one of the more progressive states when it comes to the abortion issue. In fact, there are virtually no restrictions on abortions in California. The state currently adheres to a “viability” standard (the point at which it is generally understood a child can survive outside of the womb with or without the assistance of life support systems) which allows limitless abortion prior to a physician deeming a child in the womb is “viable.” After viability, the state restricts abortion to those instances in which a woman’s life or “health” are threatened. This “health” exception is vague and undefined in state law. In fact, courts have determined that “health” can mean anything. It can mean “familial,” “emotional,” or “mental” health. For all intents and purposes, it means a woman can obtain an abortion up to birth in California.

Newsom has openly boasted about how few restrictions there are on abortion in his state. He even boasted about how proud he was of his state for expanding access and “removing barriers to reproductive health,” as if there were extreme barriers in place to begin with. Newsom makes it no secret that he is pro-abortion and is proud that California leads the United States in the number of abortions performed per year. In May of 2019, he even invited women from across the country and globe to come to California to have their abortion procedure.

Governor Newsom’s hypocrisy continues to be evident as he wants to spend $50 million dollars on an initiative to protect animals while also advocating for and promoting the destruction of the most defenseless and delicate humans in his state: unborn children. Governor Newsom even doubled the investment into reproductive health in his most recent budget proposal, hitting a record $100 million dollars of matching federal funding, which according to Newsom will provide millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

Newsom is a prime example of just how blind the pro-abortion Left is to the simple logic of the pro-life movement. If Newsom doesn’t see the hypocrisy of his support for eliminating animal euthanasia while also expanding abortion rights, then it makes you wonder just how far the pro-abortion Left can go in furthering their radical ideas while turning a blind eye to the atrocity of abortion that is happening right in front of them.

Since 2000, 3,429,978 babies have lost their lives in abortion facilities in California. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that while California might soon become the newest “no-kill state,” they continue to cement themselves as a “kill-state” of unborn children.

Blake Elliott is a Government Affairs intern at Family Research Council.