Governor Jerry Brown signed into law last week a measure that allows specially trained nurses, physicians’ assistants, and certified midwives to preform early aspiration abortions within the first trimester of a woman’s pregnancy. Currently, only about half of the state’s 58 counties have abortion facilities, and the law greatly increases the number of available legal health care providers to perform the suction procedure. State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson strongly supported the measure and cited safety and expanded access to abortion for women in rural areas. The law will be effective beginning January 1.
