AB260 - Sexual and reproductive health care.

Assembly Bill No. 260 CHAPTER 136 An act to amend Sections 2519, 2761, 2878, 4076, and 4521 of, to add Sections 687, 850.3, and 4318 to, and to repeal Section 601 of, the Business and Professions Code, to amend Section 56.110 of the Civil Code, to amend Section 6925 of the Family Code, to amend Sections 1367.21, 1375.61, and 111480 of, and to add Sections 1220.2, 1265.12, and 111376 to, the Health and Safety Code, to amend Sections 10123.195 and 10133.641 of the Insurance Code, to amend Sections 3405 and 4028 of, and to repeal Section 1108 of, the Penal Code, and to amend Sections 220 and 1773 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to sexual and reproductive health care, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. [ Approved by Governor September 26, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State September 26, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 260, Aguiar-Curry. Sexual and reproductive health care. (1) The California Constitution provides for the fundamental rights of privacy and to choose to have an abortion. Existing law, the Reproductive Privacy Act, prohibits the state from denying or interfering with a pregnant person’s right to choose or obtain an abortion before the viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person. Existing law prohibits conditions or restrictions from being imposed on abortion access for incarcerated persons and committed juveniles. Existing laws requiring parental consent for abortion and making assisting in or advertising abortion a crime have been held to be unconstitutional. This bill would repeal those unconstitutional provisions and delete obsolete references to criminal abortion penalties. The bill would make technical changes to provisions authorizing abortion for incarcerated and committed persons. (2) Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, provides for labeling requirements of drugs and devices. The Pharmacy Law requires a pharmacist to dispense a prescription in a container that is correctly labeled with specified information, including the name of the prescriber and the name address of the pharmacy. A violation of the Pharmacy Law is a misdemeanor. This bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations to include or exclude mifepristone and other medication abortion drugs from the requirements of the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, but would exclude the drugs from those requirements if the drugs are no longer approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as specified. The bill would authorize a pharmacist to dispense mifepristone or other drug used for medication abortion without the name of the patient, the name of the prescriber, or the name and address of the pharmacy, subject to specified requirements. The bill would require the pharmacist to maintain a log, as specified, that is not open to inspection by law enforcement without a subpoena, and would prohibit the disclosure of the information to an individual or entity from another state. The bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing action against a pharmacist for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in specified other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs, and would prohibit the California State Board of Pharmacy from denying an application for licensure or taking disciplinary action against an applicant or licensee for engaging in certain acts relating to mifepristone or other medical abortion drugs. By expanding the scope of a crime under the Pharmacy Law, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law establishes various healing arts boards in the Department of Consumer Affairs that license and regulate various healing arts licensees. This bill would prohibit subjecting a healing arts practitioner who is authorized to prescribe, furnish, order, or administer dangerous drugs to civil, criminal, disciplinary, or other administrative action for prescribing, furnishing, ordering, or administering mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA or that varies from an approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy under federal law, as specified. The bill would state that the laws of another state or federal actions that interfere with the authority of a healing arts practitioner to take specified actions relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs are against the public policy of this state. The bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing actions against an applicant or licensee for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs. (4) Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of clinics and health facilities by the State Department of Public Health. This bill would prohibit criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing action against a licensed clinic or health facility for transporting or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs that are lawful in California. The bill would prohibit the department from denying an application for licensure or taking disciplinary action against an applicant or licensee for engaging in certain acts relating to mifepristone or other medical abortion drugs. (5) Existing law prohibits a health care provider from knowingly disclosing, transmitting, transferring, sharing or granting access to identifiable medical information related to an individual seeking, obtaining, providing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of an abortion that is lawful under the laws of this state, as specified and subject to specified exclusions. Existing law exempts a health care provider from liability for damages or from civil or enforcement actions for failing to comply this prohibition before January 31, 2026, if the health care provider is working diligently and in good faith to comply with the prohibition. This bill would exempt a health care provider from liability for damages or from civil or enforcement actions for an additional year, until January 31, 2027. (6) Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care, and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of disability and health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law prohibits a health care service plan contract or a group or individual disability insurance policy or certificate that covers prescription drugs from limiting or excluding coverage of a drug on the basis that the drug is prescribed for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA. Existing law prohibits a contract between a health care service plan or health insurer and a health care services provider from containing any term that would result in termination or nonrenewal of the contract or otherwise penalize the provider based on a civil judgment, criminal conviction, or another professional disciplinary action in another state if the judgment, conviction, or professional disciplinary action is solely based on the application of another state’s law that interferes with a person’s right to receive care that would be lawful if provided in California. Existing law also prohibits a health care service plan or health insurer from discriminating against a licensed provider solely on the basis of a civil judgment, criminal conviction, or another professional disciplinary action in another state if the judgment, conviction, or professional disciplinary action is solely based on the application of another state’s law that interferes with a person’s right to receive care that would be lawful if provided in California. This bill would prohibit a health care service plan contract or a group or individual health insurance policy or certificate that covers prescription drugs from limiting or excluding coverage for brand name or generic mifepristone solely on the basis that the drug is prescribed for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the FDA or that varies from an approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, except if the state deems it necessary to address an imminent health or safety concern. The bill would require those contracts and policies to include coverage for brand name or generic mifepristone, even if it has not been approved by the FDA if specified requirements are met, except if the state deems it necessary to address an imminent health or safety concern. The bill would prohibit a plan or insurer from contracting with a health care services provider to terminate or nonrenew the contract or otherwise penalize the provider, or from discriminating against a licensed provider, for manufacturing, transporting, or engaging in certain other acts relating to mifepristone or other medication abortion drugs that are lawful in California. Because a violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (7) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4076 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 1503 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1503 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (9) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Digest Key Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) It is the longstanding public policy of this state to promote access to reproductive health care, including abortion care, without unnecessary burdens or restrictions on patients or providers. Every pregnant individual has the fundamental right to choose to have an abortion, a right that is secured by the California Constitution. (b) Recent federal action and litigation has raised uncertainty about the continued availability nationwide of mifepristone, a drug that has been clinically proven to be part of a safe and effective means of providing medication abortion. (c) The continued attacks on reproductive freedom across the country require immediate action to protect the right to abortion access, including access to medication abortion, in California. (d) The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the United States Supreme Court have long recognized states’ police powers and that “direct control of medical practice in the states is beyond the power of federal government” (Linder v. United States (1925) 268 U.S. 5, 18). (e) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure continued access to medication abortion that has been proven safe and effective for two decades in California for individuals seeking abortion care. SEC. 2. Section 601 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed. SEC. 3. Section 687 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 687. (a) A healing arts practitioner who is authorized to prescribe, furnish, order, or administer dangerous drugs shall not be subject to a civil or criminal action or disciplinary or other administrative proceeding solely on the basis that the practitioner prescribed, furnished, ordered, or administered brand name or generic mifepristone or any drug used for medication abortion for a use that is different from the use for which that drug has been approved for marketing by the United States Food and Drug Administration or that varies from an approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategy pursuant to Section 355-1 of Title 21 of the United States Code, except if the state deems it necessary to address an imminent health or safety concern regarding brand name or generic mifepristone. (b) Pursuant to Sections 1 and 1.1 of Article I of the California Constitution and the Reproductive Privacy Act (Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 123460) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code), the authority of a healing arts practitioner to prescribe, furnish, order, or administer brand name or generic mifepristone or any drug used for medication abortion is the practice of medicine, and the laws of another state or federal actions that interfere with the ability of a practitioner to prescribe, furnish, order, or administer brand name or generic mifepristone or any drug used for medication abortion if that action is lawful under the laws of the state, are against the public policy of this state. SEC. 4. Section 850.3 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 850.3. (a) Notwithstanding any other state law, and consistent with Sections 1 and 1.1 of Article I of the California Constitution, an individual or state or local officer shall not commence a criminal, civil, professional discipline, or licensing action against an individual licensed or certified by a healing arts board concerning the manufacture, transport, distribution, delivery, receipt, acquisition, sale, possession, furnishment, dispensation, repackaging, or storage of brand name or generic mifepristone or any drug used for medication abortion that is lawful under the laws of the state. (b) A healing arts board shall not suspend a license, revoke a license, or otherwise take disciplinary action against a licensee solely on the basis that the licensee manufactured, transported, distributed, delivered, received, acquired, sold, possessed, furnished, dispensed, repackaged, or stored brand name or generic mifepristone or any drug used for medication abortion that is lawful under the laws of the state. (c) A healing arts board shall not deny an application for licensure, or suspend a license, revoke a license, or otherwise impose discipline upon a licensee or health care practitioner subject to this division solely because the licensee or practitioner was convicted or disciplined in another state solely for an activity related to brand name or generic mifepristone or any drug used for medication abortion that, if performed in this state, would not be grounds for denial, suspension, revocation, or other discipline. SEC. 5. Section 2519 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 2519. The board may suspend, revoke, or place on probation the license of a midwife for any of the following: (a) Unprofessional conduc [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]