California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has fired up a new billboard campaign within pro-life states that promotes his state’s embrace of abortion.

The governor, who is running for re-election, has rented billboards in seven states that have passed significant restrictions on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The billboards, which are up in Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Oklahoma, direct women seeking abortions in those states to “come to California.”

“Here is my message to any woman seeking abortion care in these anti-freedom states,” Newsom said in a press statement last week, reported USA Today. “Come to California. We will defend your constitutional right to make decisions about your own health.”

“The idea that these Republican politicians are seeking to ‘protect life’ is a total farce,” Newsom added. “They are seeking to restrict and control their constituents and take away their freedom.”

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R), who is also running for re-election, responded to Newsom’s ad that depicts an image of a handcuffed woman with copy that reads, “South Dakota doesn’t own your body. You do. Learn more at abortion.CA.gov.”

“In South Dakota, we are a destination for FREEDOM and LIFE,” Noem tweeted. “Now that you’ve run your billboards in SD, why don’t you get to work cleaning up the human feces on the streets of your cities and turning the lights back on. By the way, did you write this tweet in the dark?”

In October 2021, however, Newsom demanded all California schoolchildren receive the COVID-19 mRNA shots although children are the least at risk for COVID disease.

On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization:

The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.

The Washington Post wrote Thursday its news outlet viewed the ads on the billboards “first.”

The billboards are funded by Newsom’s re-election campaign and tweets depicting the ads on the billboards are from the Twitter account of the campaign. In his tweets, Newsom addresses the governor of each pro-life state.

The ads direct women to a California state website titled “California abortion access” that states, “Abortion is legal and protected in California,” and invites women from other states to purchase their abortions in California.

Abortion seekers can click on the “Find a provider” search link where they can either access a list of abortion providers in a particular California city or a “list of all providers.”

The website also allows the user to find abortion vendors outside of California and telehealth abortion options.

In a section called “fake abortion information,” also labeled “misinformation,” the California site reflects the abortion industry’s claim that “pro-life pregnancy care centers” are attempting to deceive women into believing they perform abortions.

“These ‘clinics’ may provide false, medically inaccurate information online or in person about abortion to convince you not to have an abortion,” the California website warns.

The website clearly steers women seeking abortions to California’s “trusted” providers and sources of abortion information, including “Abortion Finder,” FPA Women’s Health, National Abortion Federation, and Planned Parenthood.

Newsom defeated a 2021 recall campaign last year and, thus far, has dismissed speculation about a potential run for president.

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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gavin Newsom” by Gavin Newsom. Background Photo “South Dakota Billboard” by Gavin Newsom. 

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