Local activists react to Texas abortion law

It was back in 2013 that co-founder and organizer of Pro-choice Kern County, Jen Bloomquist said that Pro-Choice Kern County fought and won against the proposed Human Life Ordinance in Bakersfield, which if it had passed, would have allowed family members of an abortion patient to sue abortion providers.

“We are pro the person who is pregnant, we are pro the person who has enough kids already, that they don’t want anymore kids,” Bloomquist said. “We are pro, the children who are currently in foster care, who don’t have parents to take care of them. We are pro all of those lives, not just the one life that most conservatives seem to be so concerned about.”

With Texas successfully banning most abortions in the state this past week, and the United States Supreme Court approving to let it stand, it’s something Bloomquist could see conservative groups pushing for in the federal government, the state, and even Kern County.

“We do have some local forced birth groups here that are very keen on getting something here locally, because we are such a conservative hot bed here in the Central Valley,” Bloomquist said. “This area is just prime for legislation like that.”

Meanwhile, pro-life group, Right to Life of Kern County, came back in full force for a demonstration in Sacramento on August 25th, to remind Sacramento that they are “still here."

“The unborn is an independent living human being,” Marylee Shrider, the executive director of Right to Life of Kern County said. “They are not responsible in the manner in which they are conceived, and they deserve protection under our laws and constitution.”

With the California gubernatorial recall election on the horizon, and Larry Elder, the leading recall candidate in the polls, Bloomquist said she worries about the potential of “Draconian Abortion Laws," if Elder were to become CA governor, when she says he’s "explicitly anti-abortion."

“He has been explicitly forced-birth,” Bloomquist said. “So I am expecting something to come down, whether that’s through him appointing a republican senator, if Dianne Feinstein happens to step down, or a number of things.”

Shrider thinks it’s highly unlikely similar state laws could come to fruition in California.

“Right to life of Kern county has spent a number of years pushing back against the pro-abortion legislation that comes every year,” Shrider said. “So, we would have the veto power, if Larry Elder were to become governor, but we would also be just pushing back against this constant flood of abortion bills.”