Sonoma County health care and political leaders tell Thompson what is needed to protect access to reproductive services

Local women’s health providers and community leaders told Rep. Mike Thompson on Friday that the overturning of Roe v. Wade has had a chilling effect on women seeking health care services.

A roundtable organized by Thompson, D-St. Helena, brought together leaders from throughout Sonoma County to discuss issues they’ve seen. One of which, they said, is a need for more funding for educational programs to let women know what health care options are available.

“We want to make sure everyone knows their rights and how to act on them,” said Gaby Bernal, CEO of the Santa Rosa Community Health Center. “Funding for health education is extremely important.”

Dr. Rebecca Katz, primary care site director of the Petaluma Health Center, joined others in telling Thompson they were working hard to make contraception available as Joanne M. Brown, a member of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, said she worries more young women will become pregnant because they are afraid to go to clinics.

There was also agreement that women of color, particularly immigrants and the poor or homeless, would be most affected in the post-Roe era.

“Reproductive care decisions should be made by a woman in consultation with her doctor, her family, and her faith,” Thompson said. “The extreme decision in Dobbs v. Johnson has stripped away a nearly 50-year precedent, taking away Americans’ freedom to make their own health care decisions.”

Cheryl Johnson, CEO of the Sonoma Valley Community Center, said she once “lived during the best time to be a woman.”

Now, that has changed.

“We were fighting to make gains; now we’re fighting to maintain,” she added.

She believes the high court’s decision, and states moving to ban abortion, is having a chilling effect in that other rights, such as the right to use contraception, may be lost next.

Margaret Martinez Franks, public affairs representative for Northern California Planned Parenthood, told Thompson “trust has been lost by people who need our services. There has to be a major change at a national level for anything to change as far as people seeking health services locally.”

Thompson heard the women’s suggestions — including an ask to form a partnership to work toward the same goals — and told them, “I’m just a phone call away.”

He said he has been fighting for more health care funding now that COVID funding is evaporating, and that he has voted for bills to ensure women’s right to reproductive freedom and to use contraception.

Amid the seismic aftershocks of the Supreme Court’s June decision to eliminate a constitutional right to abortion, Democrats have seen their chances of maintaining their majority in Congress start to improve, with a political opening especially in the debate about how to respond in the post-Roe era.

A new Pew Research Center poll showed abortion as a “very important” priority for 71% of Democratic voters — an increase from 46% in March.

Democrats who ran in special elections following the Supreme Court’s decision were buoyed by turnout based on voters’ opinions on reproductive rights.

Planned Parenthood and some local health services are expecting to see an increase in the number of women seeking service from other states where abortion is — or will be — banned (there could be as many as 26 based on political estimates).

Franks said Planned Parenthood has already been caring for patients from Nevada and Texas, and they expect the demand to increase by 3,000%.

When asked by Thompson whether there will be “any problem with California being a safe harbor” for women seeking abortions, Bernal said she would welcome women from other states.

“I’m more concerned we can’t help the women who need it,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.