A California Democratic lawmaker is pushing a bill in the state legislature that would require all student IDs for kids and young adults between the ages of 12 and 24 to include a phone number to Planned Parenthood.
On top of that, California state Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel’s proposal would also extend not only to public schools, but to private schools, universities and colleges, as well.
Called the “Pupil and Student Health” bill, Gabriel’s state bill runs afoul of the First Amendment, requiring students to unwittingly and involuntarily tout Planned Parenthood’s message regardless of whether they – or their parents—are OK with it, argues the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins.
“He calls it the “Pupil and Student Health” bill, but critics of Gabriel’s AB 624 want people to know what it really is: an attack on the First Amendment,” Perkins argued in an op-ed for the Daily Signal Wednesday. “By slapping Planned Parenthood’s hotline on the back of every 12- to 24-year-old’s ID, California essentially would be forcing every student to join an abortion sales team.”
And Perkins is right. By forcing students to carry around IDs sporting a direct line to the nation’s largest abortion provider, the measure essentially nixes pro-lifers’ First Amendment right to free speech by essentially forcing them to peddle a message they don’t agree with.
On top of that, the measure appears to be yet another attempt by California to place further separation between parents and the lives and major health care decisions of their underage children. According to Planned Parenthood’s own website, California law already stipulates that minors are not required to obtain their parents’ consent before procuring an abortion.
Planned Parenthood, of course, seems totally on board with the plan. Canyon News reports that after reaching out to the taxpayer-funded abortion giant, Planned Parenthood told them the organization "said that they set appointments for 35 Planned Parenthood facilities and their phone number would be listed on the student’s ID."
While questions of constitutionality regarding the bill abound, the “why” of it all seems pretty clear: as Perkins points out, Gabriel took $4,400 from Planned Parenthood for his 2018 campaign. Even still, the assemblyman has reportedly indicated that this doesn’t indicate a conflict of interest.
(Cover Photo: Laurie Shaull)