In response to today’s Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing of Assembly member Buffy Wicks’ AB 2223, the bill that seeks to decriminalize infant deaths from pregnancy-related causes, California Catholic Conference Executive Director Kathleen Domingo issued the following statement:
“Today’s hearing on Assembly member Wick’s AB 2223 in the Assembly Judiciary Committee left open the question of legalizing infanticide in California, despite Wicks’ prior assurances to the contrary.
“The stated intent of AB 2223 is to ‘prohibit a person from being subject to civil or criminal liability for … a pregnancy outcome.’ The CCC worked with Assembly member Wicks and her staff to clarify and narrow the bill language to protect innocent newborns and allow coroners to investigate infant deaths; however, we are incredibly disappointed that the imprecise language remains.
“AB 2223 now includes “perinatal death due to a pregnancy-related cause.” However, according to California Welfare and Institutions Code 14134.5, the term “perinatal” is defined as “the period from the establishment of pregnancy to one month following delivery.
“The California Catholic Conference opposes AB 2223 unless amended to definitively exclude infant death due to abuse or neglect.”
Please contact your California Assembly Member to push for these important changes to the language in AB 2223 at https://www.votervoice.net/iframes/CACATHOLIC/Campaigns/93814/Respond