Former California State Sen. Melissa Melendez is one of the brightest sanity beacons of the not-so-Golden State. She tweeted on the 14th of August that the state legislature was considering a law eliminating the requirement for healthcare providers to inform the police when they suspect their patient is suffering domestic violence.
California is preparing to pass a bill (AB 1028) that removes the requirement for health care providers to report to law enforcement injuries caused by domestic violence or sexual abuse.
This is good news for abusers, terrible news for the abused.
— Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) August 15, 2023
Tina McKinnor, an Assemblymember, introduced the bill in February 2023. The bill was co-authored with Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and Scott Wiener, everyone’s favorite California politician who is not Governor Hair Gel.
The summary of this bill in the Legislative Council Digest is astounding.
A health professional, as defined by law, is required to report to the police when they suspect that a patient suffered a physical injury, whether it was caused by the person themselves or by someone else if the injury was inflicted with a firearm or by abusive or assaultive conduct such as elder abuse, sexual violence, or torture. Violations of these provisions are punishable by a misdemeanor.
The bill removes the requirement for a health professional to report to the police when they suspect that a patient suffered physical injuries caused by abusive or assaultive conduct. Instead, the report is only required if a health provider suspects that the patient suffered a physical injury or wound inflicted either by their own actions or by someone else, such as a physical injury or wound resulting from a child or elder abuse.
On and after January 1, 2020, the bill will require that any health professional who suspects a patient of having suffered physical injuries caused by domestic abuse, as defined in the bill, provides brief counseling, education, or other support and, if necessary, a warm handoff or referral to local or national domestic violence or advocacy services for sexual violence. On and after January 1, 2020, the bill specifies that a health professional is not criminally or civilly liable for a report made in good conscience and in compliance with this provision.
California is still one of the few States that requires notification to law enforcement.
We know and can do better. It’s time we ended mandatory police reports by health providers. This prevents those most vulnerable people from receiving healthcare, decreases the safety of survivors, and incorrectly assumes that police reporting is the solution to abuse.
You Neanderthals got it? Reporting violence increases violence. In fact, it is counterproductive. All that is required to stop the violence is “brief education or counseling” or, in extreme cases, “warm handoff”. According to women, if a man who has broken your nose or blackened your eyes brings you flowers, then it is all right.
Karen Earl is one of the co-authors of the editorial praising this bill. She’s also the co-leader of the Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Network. The domain is no longer active, so don’t waste your time looking for it. When it was still in existence, its mission statement was:
CRDV Network is convinced that empowerment-based and survivor-centered strategies can help end domestic violence. We envision a society where domestic violence prevention programs and interventions are designed by and for the community. Culture is also recognized as an evolving tool for empowerment and violence/oppression.
Right. A stern lecture always stops a man who believes hitting a woman is acceptable.
It’s bad that progressives use the average taxpayer to fund their pathetic social engineering experiment. Now we’re going to treat domestic abuse with no more than a tsk tsk? How much do Assemblymembers McKinnon, Wicks, and other women hate each other? There’s no need to make jokes about Senator Wiener because this is not funny. How many women would be hurt or worse by this bill?
#BelieveAllWomen but remove any penalties for them to serve as a punching bag.
