>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7news. >> you're watching getting answers live abc 7. we are asked -- answering your questions in real-time. today's show is all about the supreme court's decision to overturn roe v. wade. thereby taking away abortion rights is something that's guaranteed by the constitution, by the federal government. the decision today gives back to the states the authority to establish their own abortion laws. protests outside the high court today have been continuing unabated all day. antiabortion activists have cheered the decision outside the court, as well as those who are

supportive as well as protesting. both out there, and today we will be looking at the decision and its impact from different perspectives. political, legal and medical. abc 7 special correspondent will be joining us in about 10 minutes, along with a portland oregon gynecologist ed alter. we want to explore what california is doing in the response a decision. joining us is nancy skinner. senator skinner, thank you for joining us. >> happy to be here. kristen: your reaction to the majority opinion that the constitution does not guarantee this right? >> it is clearly about abortion. make no mistake, we've got about 26 states that within 30 days will criminalizertn in almost any case. some states criminalizing abortion even in the case of rape her and says, which means a woman in that situation would have to carry a pregnancy to

term against her will. so we've got a look at the states, we've gotta get legislators, pro-abortion legislators to reverse this. we cannot rely on the courts, and we have to look to congress. california, fortunately, abortion is legal, will be legal, and there's lots we are doing to make sure that every californian has access to contraception, can get there abortion services, and because so many states are nearby that will criminalize abortion, we expect many people to be coming to california. >> let's talk about those people coming to california. because, you knew it was coming, california lawmakers got to work the minute that draft opinion was leaked last month seeking to, for one, codify the right to abortion access. what does that mean, codify? what needs to happen? >> certainly. while we could've expected it,

it is still got wrenching just a punch to know that something that so many of us have held dear for 50 years is just being stripped. a right of our bodily of ptolemy in our self-determination. in california, our constitutional -- our state constitutional right for an abortion is based on privacy. when you read this decision, basically the court has got privacy protections. so while our immediate concern is abortion, that getting the privacy protections could affect contraception, could affect gay marriage so much. but, since california's protection is based on privacy and the court has stripped that, we have a constitutional amendment that my president of the senate, pro tem senator toni atkins, as introduced and that the state senate passed just this week, and that is sca 10 and it would go on the ballot in

november. so the other house still has to pass it, but it is a constitutional amendment were california voters could enshrine in our constitution the explicit right to an abortion and to all forms of contraceptive services. kristen: but with the vote need to be from voters in order for it to pass if it's a constitutional thing? >> for constitutional amendments we need -- apologies, i'm blinking, but we need a majority vote in the legislator to put it on the ballot and we need two thirds vote, but the senate has already approved the two thirds vote. kristen: the governor has proposed hundreds of millions of dollars to expand abortion access, does he have that support from the legislator? >> i am vice chair the women's caucus and the legislator, i'm also chair of the senate budget committee and working with the

governor we put forward even a broader package of funding to fund clinics, to expand the workforce so that we have enough clinics and providers trained medical professionals to be able to provide reproductive services, we also have a fund to fund clinics, to expand them, those people who find that they need financial support, perhaps to cover the cost of childcare or lodging, we would establish a fund. if that's a financial hardship, you could apply for assistance. if you need to have some support in order to get your abortion. all of those things will be in the budget that we expect to vote on on monday. quakes in the budget will there also be money for legal battles? for example to protect a practitioner first suits that may becoming his or her way? >> there is a package of laws

that the members have introduced, and those laws include laws that would protect a medical provider from any liability for their provision of an abortion, would protect their staff, would also prevent anyone from being subpoenaed who for california courts have issued a subpoena if you came to california for an abortion, so we have multiple, multiple laws that people can look at the women's caucus led website to see, and our attorney general with who we find normally a healthy budget, the attorney general's office is always prepared and ready to defend california laws if we are challenged in court. kristen: for those wonder about california's tax dollars now being used to subsidize, if you will, they health care of people from other states due to the laws that other states are

passing, if they are asking how long can that continue, what is your answer to that? >> we have never asked anyone what state are you from if you come for whatever your health care services are. the fund that i referred to, while the state dollars will be in a fund for state residence, we have a separate fund where we are getting private sector donations, that's the expectation that would be able to support people from out of state if they find the financial means. so that's how we are structuring it. kristen: before i let you go i want to ask you, what if, and i'm sure you already -- you are already looking at that and preparing for the possibility, but if the high court were to have a case that comes up that allows it to strike down states rights on this issue and say, california, you cannot do that and guarantee this right? >> the court, so far, even as

bad as it is, and i'm talking about the majority on the supreme court, it has respected states rights. i'm hoping they will continue to do so. i think if they were to start to strike down the state's ability to act, then i think you would have the reaction across the entire united states, and certainly a very ferocious reaction here in california. and let's just remind ourselves. all the polls have shown over 60% of americans did not want roe v. wade overturn. only 30% or so did. so what kind of democracy do we have when you have i tiring he of a majority on the supreme court that reflects the most tiny minority in our country? kristen: thank you so much for your time and your information today. >> thank you. kristen: we will be right back. when we come back, we will talk with a gynecologist with a large

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kristen: they're all kinds of questions about the health and medical impact of today's ruling. joining us is abc 7's news contributor. dr. jim and -- dr. jennifer lincoln based in portland, oregon. if you have questions for our two doctors, please go ahead and ask on facebook live. dr. lincoln and dr. patel, thank you for joining us today. >> thank you for talking about this. thank you for joining us. kristen: we do need to talk about it because i think there is a lot of misinformation out there. it's important to know that nothing has changed in california except for maybe efforts to expand abortion access.

for women in the 26 states were abortion rights are being rolled back or eliminated, what is the range of restrictions that they now face? >> so we are seeing states that have trigger laws that are going into effect as we speak. people are panicking and are wondering if they will be a part of the schedule. they are wondering about other kinds of access, like access to their birth control and emergency contraception. there's a lot of fear, misinformation and anxiety, but is still hard toing. kristen: can i ask you, some of these states, trigger laws are the ones that have laws that will take effect shortly, do they ban medical abortions or just surgical? >> so, please laws that ban abortions at various times, whether at the time of cardiac activity or fertilization, they make it illegal for people to

perform those abortions and dispense the medications within those states. kristen: let's talk about what should concerned people do right now. i know you have launched a platform that kind of spells out with the resources are and what people can do. so while we pull that up so we can show it to folks, if you can walk us through, what are the three things that you advise people to do? wax i launched this website when we heard about the leak a few weeks ago, with the idea that we knew ro would fall, and now that it has there are still three essential steps you can take to protect your reproductive freedom. starting with birth control, you have a plan in place. emergency contraceptive, the morning-after pills, access of filling prescription of medication abortion pills. you can get all of these mailed to you in all 50 states using the websites that are on my website, which acts as a hub for

you to get these. it's important to know that people who live in states where abortion is outlawed, the organization access is a national organization that can mail you these. it can take a few weeks to get to you, that's why acting now, sooner rather than later, is an important step to take. kristen: please jump in if you have a question. i know you and i both have a lot of questions for her on this matter, now i'm wondering when is emergency contraceptive used and when are they medication abortion pills used? i think the timing is also important for people. >> i appreciate you bringing that up because there is misinformation about what they are and what they aren't. the morning act -- the morning-after pills are your plan b, things you need if you had unprotected sex or had a slip up. what they do is they do not end a pregnancy. if you are already pregnant they won't work. they work in delaying ovulation

to prevent pregnancy. on the other hand there -- to medications that you can take that if you are pregnant to have an abortion which are approved in the united states up to 10 weeks. so two very different things, but there is misinformation out there were people are saying that warning after bills because abortions and they absolutely do not. >> dr. lincoln, not necessarily misinformation but ambiguity is the whole concept about being able to terminate a pregnancy is the parents life is at risk. but i have looked through the bills and i see no specific wording about what that determination is. so my question in my worry is that there may be a provider somewhere in one of the states may have to rethink and say, at what point is the pregnant person's life at risk or am i going to take action too early and risk going to jail? are providers worried? >> it's already happening. i have providers in texas who are already going through this. it's a position you know there's no one test you can do to decide

someone is sick enough to intervene for a procedure necessary. the providers are being pushed to the brink with when they can intervene. how late is too late? how close do you let somebody get to death before you intervene? we are going to see this and we are going to see pregnant people died because of this. >> how does one measure if someone is in a mental health stage, so fragile, that being unable to end their pregnancy could lead them to harm themselves and someone's life could be at risk in that way, how does that factor into the equation? >> sadly, it does not factor into the equation. the committee just had a model law put together by a law firm that came out just a week ago that they said could be used as a template to implement the laws , and they specifically say that there should be no exception for mental health issues, meaning that the pregnant person

identifies that they are suicidal or have a suicide attempt because of their pregnancy and it's not a reason to terminate a pregnancy. >> if you actually look through or anyone looks through the states in this specific laws out there, they differ widely. some states don't allow for abortion and rape her and says, that means there's no claw when it comes to a fetal anomaly. which means you find out they may not survive or have a severe abnormality and they have no quality of life. some say you have to still continue their pregnancy. >> that's how it is in texas right now, absolutely. >> knowing that the fetus has no chance of making it, but still having to carry the fetus to term and then having to mourn the instant death of that baby when it is born? >> there are states that won't protect you in that situation. without being too graphic, i distantly remember one situation in which we had a newborn baby

with a condition called ns affiliate, that literally means without a brain. his children might survive for a few minutes, maybe an hour, but most are still warrants. and in some states a pregnant person who may not have access may be forced to deliver this child to a quick few hours of suffering. >> such as happen to a friend of mine in texas who had to seek care, not have any family with her because of covid. these are not hypotheticals. these are happening and they will continue to happen. kristen: if you have any questions for the doctors, put them on facebook live. we'll take a short break on the air and we come back we will answer more of your questions, especially medically related ones. especially what happens to our supply providers in the

>> we are back with the doctor and gynecologist with more on today's supreme court ruling. the ruling that kicks effect to

the state of whether the state law wants to allow for abortion access. just know, dr. lincoln, a lot of people know you and follow you unsocial. one of the things you do is put out information via both instagram and tiktok videos. can we go sound up on it? you have to click on that little soundbite and. >> she can lip-synch it. >> we should make you lip-synch it. it's on the bottom. >> just read the captions. kristen: that's ok, you get the idea of talking and the information. is information becoming harder to get and come by for women living in half the states, the ones that are restricting rights? >> not yet, we are not seeing people are not able to access websites. this morning i had a freak out when people were telling me they could not get through to one of the websites access. when i took a quick survey these were states that were a part of

abortion and i said, here goes. it was actually the access in the website was overrun. we are not there yet, but i don't know where we will end up. kristen: can i ask if there is some thought as to whether this will impact the supply, if you will, of future health care providers, and specifically, doctors who perform surgical abortions or even provides chemical abortion pills, for example, due to either the threat of litigation or criminal court -- or criminal prosecution? >> absolutely, there are programs already that have not trained their ob/gyn residence and that are already in states that warehouse also abortions, and now it would be illegal. so some of these programs are saying that these residents can go elsewhere to get the training. i just got a message from one intern yesterday who is now in a state where abortion would be illegal and she was told if she went somewhere else to get

abortion training, she would, but the hospital would not pay for the practice. it's cost primitive for most. we are going to see fewer positions trained to provide these procedures, which is going to have generational effects down the road. kristen: this has an impact -- you are a pediatrician and teenagers are children and teenagers get pregnant, what is the conversation you're having with teenagers are hearing from teenagers? >> teenagers are empowering and they are seeking information. we are fortunate in a state like california where teenagers have access to not only comprehensive sex education and make responsible decisions, but also access. on top of that, we talk about restricting reproductive rights, we are affecting everyone around them and we are hearing people out there saying, adoption is a great option. there's 150,000 kids right now waiting for adoption, most half

a million and foster system. states like mississippi and louisiana are among the lowest in the states when it comes to child welfare and among the highest when it comes to child poverty. this is why the american academy of pediatrics took a stance and made a statement today talking about defending adolescence access to reproductive rights because teenagers are well aware of their limitations in other states, pediatric providers like myself have seem complications and teenage pregnancies. in the conditions we talked about earlier, when you have high-risk pregnancies with fetal anomalies, and somebody who might be a teenager, in a state without access, are ruining multiple lives in that scenario. kristen: even in the best of circumstances, is pregnancy always a risk? >> pregnancy is the riskiest thing most people with a uterus will ever do. we know in the united states we have a maternal mortality crisis and there is for sure racial

disparities. and i am not trying to scare people out of pregnancy. the reality is is that medically it's dangerous. most of us are fine, but not everyone. our severe mortality rate is 2.5 percent. or as this severe mortality -- the severe rapidity rate at abortion is less than half a percent. so abortion is safer than pregnancy and childbirth. kristen: can you run that by me about the 2.5%? >> this severe maternal morbidity rate in the united states, things that may happen during pregnancy and childbirth such as hypertensive disorders needing to hemorrhage or sexes, really bad things that can happen in pregnancy, that's 2% in the united states, which is not insignificant. but when you compare it to abortion, which people putting out misinformation saying it's unsafe, it's much safer compared to pregnancy, .4% in that same

statistic. >> i have seen global data showing us that in places where abortions are restricted or illegal, the total number of abortions does not actually go down, just a number of unsafe abortions increases. do you expect that to happen in the united states? >> i do. i'm hoping it's not as dramatic as other countries who have access to reliable self manage medication, but i cannot predict the future. texas is a great example of when it went into effect, the total number of abortions did not decrease overall for texas residents, they happened in other states like oklahoma and new mexico. so you are not going to decrease abortions, especially in light of people hinting they want to restrict things like iud's, birth control, contraceptives and other claims. >> and that's if you can afford to fly to another state. so everyone out there should be very clear about how -- who this will affect the most.

those without resources. >> it's important to know that right now, 50% of people in the u.s. live within 25 miles of a clinic that provides abortion. that number is about 120 miles now. and we predict the number of 143,000 people per year will not be able to access abortion because of the travel distances. those numbers are enormous and not insignificant. >> it is often said that change does not come overnight, but sometimes it does. dr. jennifer linkedin, dr. patel, thank you both for

kristen: thank you for joining us on this interactive show of getting answers today. we will be here every weekday at

3:00 on air, on live stream at answering your questions. more coverage of the supreme court decision on world news tonight, w tonight, history made at the supreme court. the court overturning roe vs. wade. a 6-3 vote, the conservative justices overturning roe. a 50-year precedent. abortion rights protected across this country until now. tonight, deciding to uphold mississippi's abortion law and overruling roe vs. wade. tonight, president biden declaring it a sad day for the court and the country. calling it a tragic error and saying the decision shows how extreme the court has become. the court turning abortion rights to the states to decide. tonight, 13 states with so-called trigger laws, mediate laws that ban abortion, now set to go into effect. missouri and oklahoma among the first states with those bans