Gavin Newsom vetoes bill that would have protected trans care providers from charges in other states

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation passed to protect providers of gender-affirming care from charges in other states.

This past weekend, the Democrat nixed Assembly Bill 2164, which would prevent the governor from honoring an extradition request for anyone who comes to California to receive an abortion or undergo gender-affirming care, citing concerns it would restrict his office’s executive authority.

“This would prohibit future governors from recognizing a request for extradition of a person subject to criminal liability based on allegations that the person engaged in specified health care activities,” Newsom wrote in a veto message published on Sunday.

Progressive groups voiced disappointment about the veto of AB 2164. The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus had made the bill a priority this year, saying it was important to prohibit “future Governors from recognizing a request for extradition of a person providing or aiding legally protected reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care services in California.”

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Newsom said previous laws he implemented already provide protections for LGBTQ+ families and medical professionals. Last year, he signed legislation strengthening California’s confidentiality laws, expanding a shield law and requiring law enforcement to obtain warrants to access the California healthcare database and punishing unauthorized access as a misdemeanor.

But he said prior laws still rightfully leave in the realm of the executive many matters of enforcement. While praising the intent of Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, the bill’s Democratic sponsor, Newsom, who cannot run for gubernatorial reelection because of term limits, said he can’t bind the hands of his successors.

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“I am proud of the work done in partnership with the Legislature over the last eight years to produce numerous, important policies protecting the right of access to health care in this state. Together, we have passed into law the nation’s strongest protections for people seeking and providing those services, including expanding privacy protections for providers, enacting safeguards against the enforcement of other states’ laws that penalize individuals for obtaining care, and authorizing a party aggrieved by a violation of the Reproductive Privacy Act to bring a civil action against an offending state actor,” Newsom wrote.

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“While I share the author’s views on the importance of protecting these important healthcare services, extradition is an exclusively executive function. When discretionary, that discretion is appropriately placed with the Governor. I am troubled by the precedent that would be set if an outgoing administration agreed with the Legislature to erode the executive authority of an incoming Governor based on their shared policy preferences, regardless of how righteous and well-intended those actions may be.”

The legislation also would have protected abortion providers treating patients from states that restricted the procedure. Reproductive Freedom for All California Director Pavitra Abraham told the Bay Area Reporter the organization was “deeply disappointed by Gov. Newsom’s veto of AB 2164, which leaves California’s protections for abortion providers in the hands of whoever occupies the governor’s office.”