NARAL Pro-Choice California Foundation is the California state affiliate of NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, a pro-abortion rights group. The organization promotes a radical pro-abortion legislative agenda at the local and state level.

Issue Positions

Abortion Access

NARAL Pro-Choice California Foundation categorically opposes laws which may limit access to abortion. ¹

The organization further denounces crisis pregnancy centers, frequently operated by pro-life organizations, as “fake health-care ‘clinics.’”²

Birth Control

NARAL Pro-Choice California promotes laws compelling insurance coverage of contraception, including the Obamacare contraception mandate. ³

The foundation labels those who do not support taxpayer-funded birth control to be “anti-choice extremists.” ⁴

Paid Family Leave

The foundation declares that “paid family leave is a critical component of reproductive freedom,” and advocates mandatory paid leave laws⁵

Legislative Action

NARAL Pro-Choice California Foundation  advocates for California to enact radical pro-abortion policies, in part as a signal to the rest of the country. ⁶

Past Action

NARAL Pro-Choice California Foundation claims credit for passing A.B. 775, a statute which compelled pro-life crisis pregnancy centers to provide information on government-funded abortion services to patients. ⁷ The law also required these centers to notify patients if there were no “medical professionals” on staff. ⁸ This was the first state-wide statute passed in the country to regulate crisis pregnancy centers in this way. ⁹

The law was ultimately struck down by the United States Supreme Court, as a violation of first amendment protections, in a case titled NIFLA v. Becerra. ¹⁰ NARAL Pro-Choice America, NARAL Pro-Choice California Foundation’s national parent lobbying organization, filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the California law. ¹¹

The group further supported a bill to mandate insurance coverage of hormonal contraceptives,¹²a bill to allow certain non-physicians, including nurse practitioners, to perform abortions during the first trimester¹³ and to extend “the authority to perform abortions by vacuum aspiration to nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physicians’ assistants,”¹⁴ and a bill that “would have prohibited employers from punishing workers who use birth control, get an abortion or make other reproductive health decisions they disagree with” that was vetoed by then-California Governor Jerry Brown (D). ¹⁵

In 2019, the group supported legislation to require public funding and distribution of abortion pills at campus health centers in the University of California and California State University. ¹⁶ The bill is an attempt to relieve college students of the “financial, logistical, and emotional burden” of seeking abortion pills. ¹⁷ The bill had previously passed in the state legislature, but had been vetoed by former Governor Brown. ¹⁸

Other Activities

The organization primarily concerns itself with mobilizing the members in California to effect radical pro-abortion policies across the state. The organization is promotes its legislative agenda; its political arms endorse pro-abortion candidates for office. ¹⁹

The foundation has also made undercover investigations into crisis pregnancy centers, labeling them “fake health centers,” in order to publish a report maligning these clinics. ²⁰

People

Amy Everitt is the organization’s state director. Everitt had previously worked for the Democratic National Committee and EdVoice and has worked on multiple political campaigns. She has written for the Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, and Huffington Post. ²¹  “She is a Steering Committee member for the Civil Rights Coalition of California, an ambassador with the Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women in SF and a board member of the Center for Civic Engagement.” ²² She leads the opposition to crisis pregnancy centers, regularly writing and speaking on the topic. ²³

Shannon Hovis is the assistant director of California Programs for the organization. She had previously worked for the California Department of Justice in the Executive Office of then-State Attorney General Kamala Harris (D). ²⁴ While there, Hovis managed California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board. ²⁵ Hovis has also served as a senior legislative assistant in the California State Assembly, in the office of former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson (D), and as a field organizer in Nevada for Organizing for America. ²⁶

Allie Lahey is a program manager who manages NARAL’s California political arm PrivacyPAC and plays a strong role in promoting the organization’s legislative agenda. Before joining NARAL Pro-Choice California, Lahey had been the Ohio state organizer for URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, another pro-abortion group.

1. “Abortion Access.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/issue/abortion-access/.
2. “Abortion Access.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/issue/abortion-access/.
3. “Birth Control.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/issue/birth-control/.
4. “Birth Control.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/issue/birth-control/ .
5. “Paid Family Leave.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/issue/paid-family-leave/.
6. “Legislative Wins.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/laws-policy/legislative-wins/. 
7. 700. A.B. 775, Sess. of 2015 (Cal. 2015), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB775
8. 700. A.B. 775, Sess. of 2015 (Cal. 2015), https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB775
9. Redden, Molly. “This State Just Became the First to Crack down on Deceptive Anti-abortion Pregnancy Centers.” Mother Jones. June 24, 2017. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/10/state-just-became-first-crack-down-deceptive-anti-abortion-pregnancy-centers/.
10. National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, Dba NIFLA, et al. V. Becerra, Attorney General Of California, et al., No. 16-1140 (June 26, 2018).
11. Howard, Kate. “National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra.” SCOTUSblog. Accessed July 23, 2019. https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/national-institute-family-life-advocates-v-becerra/.
12. Knight, Nicole. “Californians Can Soon Pick Up 12 Months of Birth Control.” Rewire.News. September 30, 2016. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://rewire.news/article/2016/09/30/californians-can-soon-pick-12-months-birth-control/.
13. McGreevy, Patrick, and Anthony York. “Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill to Increase Access to Abortions.” Los Angeles Times. October 09, 2013. Accessed January 28, 2019. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/09/local/la-me-brown-bills-abortion-20131010.
14. McGreevy, Patrick, and Anthony York. “Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill to Increase Access to Abortions.” Los Angeles Times. October 09, 2013. Accessed January 28, 2019. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/09/local/la-me-brown-bills-abortion-20131010.
15. Koseff, Alexei. “Jerry Brown Vetoes Workplace Protection for Reproductive Health Decisions.” The Sacramento Bee. October 16, 2017. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article179062881.html.
16. “2019 Legislative Priorities.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/laws-policy/legislative-priorities/.
17. “2019 Legislative Priorities.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/laws-policy/legislative-priorities/.
18. Koseff, Alexei. “Abortion Pill Mandate for California Universities Vetoed by Brown.” The Mercury News. October 01, 2018. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/30/abortion-pill-mandate-for-state-universities-vetoed-by-brown/.
19. “About.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/about/.
20. “Fake Health Centers.” NARAL Pro-Choice America. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/issue/fake-health-centers/.
21. “Amy Everitt, State Director.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/amy-everitt-state-director/.
22. “Amy Everitt, State Director.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/amy-everitt-state-director/.
23. Everitt, Amy. “Crisis Pregnancy Centers Threaten Women’s Health.” The Sacramento Bee. March 11, 2015. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/shannon-k-hovis-mpp-mst/
24. “Shannon K. Hovis, MPP, MST.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/shannon-k-hovis-mpp-mst/.
25. “Shannon K. Hovis, MPP, MST.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/shannon-k-hovis-mpp-mst/.
26. “Shannon K. Hovis, MPP, MST.” NARAL Pro-Choice California. Accessed January 28, 2019. https://prochoicecalifornia.org/shannon-k-hovis-mpp-mst/.