"The governors of California, Oregon and Washington today issued a Multi-State Commitment to defend access to reproductive health care, including abortion and contraceptives, and committed to protecting patients and doctors against efforts by other states to export their abortion bans to our states," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a press release.
The joint commitment affirms the governors’ intentions to protect against efforts by states hostile to abortion to target people who legally undergo the procedure in their states, including by refusing non-fugitive extradition of people for criminal prosecution for receiving abortions in their states and promoting greater access to abortion care services through expanding access to abortion medication and growing the pool of qualified practitioners.
The governors will also help defend against "false and misleading" reproductive healthcare information, according to the joint commitment.
Newsom was joined in signing the pledge by Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Washington Governor Jay Inslee.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court overturned the precedent established in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and ruled that states may regulate the practice of abortion. Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the Supreme Court’s written opinion, said the US Constitution neither prohibits the citizens of states from regulating abortion nor confers a right to abortion.
The decision has prompted calls from proponents of abortion rights to bolster protections for the procedure, including from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said that congressional Democrats will work to enshrine abortion protections into federal law.
The US Justice Department also strongly disagrees with the ruling, according to a statement by Attorney General Merrick Garland.