One controversial bill concerning homosexuality could soon become law in California, while another concerning abortion that was thwarted earlier this session has been revived.

The General Assembly’s Committee on Business, Professions and Consumer Protection voted 6-2 on Tuesday to pass SB 1172 — a bill that completely prevents counselors from helping minors struggling with same-sex attractions.

“A licensed clinical social worker, a psychologist, a psychiatrist—no one who’s licensed to perform counseling would be permitted, by law if this bill passes, to help a child decrease their same-sex attraction issue,” said Ron Prentice, executive director of the California Family Council.

That’s why six major professional groups oppose the bill.

“One (reason) would be religious liberty. Another would be self-determination of a client,” he said. “And there is absolutely no research which suggests that same-sex attraction is either genetic or that it is fixed and can’t be changed.”

The committee was the last hurdle the bill needed to clear before heading to the Assembly floor for a vote. It passed the Senate, 23-13, on May 30.

Meanwhile, a bill allowing nondoctors to perform abortions — so long as they have graduated from an as-yet incomplete pilot study funded by Planned Parenthood — has been revived.

In May, SB 1338, sponsored by Sen. Christine Kehoe, was pulled from a committee when she realized it didn’t have enough support to pass. But now, SB 623 — a bill also sponsored by Kehoe originally dealing with regulating toxic paint on boats — has been gutted, and the language replaced with the text originally intended for SB 1338.

The amended bill also asks the Legislature to extend the pilot study through Jan. 1, 2014, to give its engineers time to publish their findings on how a variety of health professionals, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, can be trained to perform suction abortions without doctors’ supervision.

According to the Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF), doctors who’ve contributed to the study’s training manual have been disciplined by the state medical board for causing women’s deaths during botched abortions, as well as drug and alcohol abuse.

“Sen. Kehoe is using parliamentary procedures to try to enact legislation that would put women at risk with a bait and switch,” LLDF Executive Director Dana Cody said. “The fact is that women deserve better than abortion, period. And they certainly deserve better than a state-sanctioned program that has resulted in increased complications for women because nurses and others are being trained to abort children, in a pilot program that involves doctors disciplined by the medical board, with no oversight.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Read California SB 1172.

Read California SB 623.

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