AB 2531 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Public health: abortion services.

Summary

Existing law establishes the California Reproductive and TGI Health Equity Program within the Department of Health Care Access and Information for the purpose of ensuring abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care are affordable for and accessible to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay, and to provide financial support for safety net providers of these services to offset the costs of providing uncompensated care to patients with low incomes who would otherwise lack access to care. Existing law authorizes a Medi-Cal enrolled provider to apply for a grant, and a continuation award after the initial grant, if they agree to provide abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care services in accordance with specified requirements, including that the services are provided at no cost or a reduced cost to individuals with a household income at or below 400% of the federal poverty level who are uninsured or have health care coverage that does not include both abortion and contraception or does not include gender-affirming care and are not otherwise eligible to receive both abortion and contraception care at no cost through the Medi-Cal and Family PACT programs or receive gender-affirming care at no cost through the Medi-Cal program. This bill would additionally authorize a Medi-Cal enrolled provider to apply for a grant or a continuation of a grant if they provide the above-described services to patients who are veterans, as defined, who are uninsured or have health care coverage that does not include both abortion and contraception and are not otherwise eligible to receive both abortion and contraception care at no cost through the Medi-Cal and Family PACT programs. The bill would make other conforming changes and would make related findings and declarations. Existing law establishes the Department of Veterans Affairs and vests the department with specified duties related to veterans in the state, including the development of a transition program to assist veterans in successfully transitioning from military to civilian life by providing information related to, among other things, health care programs and services. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to publish a link to the State Department of Public Health's abortion information internet website on the women veterans resources page of its internet website.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 20, 2026 Last action Aug 26, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

08/30/26 - Enrolled → AB2531 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes between these two versions. The diff reflects a transition from a formal enrolled legislative document (with page numbers, clerk signatures, and governor approval line) to a web page rendering of the same bill on the California legislature website. All five sections of the bill text are identical in content.

TECHNICAL

The document changed from a formal enrolled bill format (with page headers, clerk/governor signature blocks, and legislative counsel digest in a separate section) to a web page layout with navigation menus, bill tracking metadata, and status dates. No policy language was altered.

08/13/26 - Amended Senate → 08/30/26 - Enrolled · 5 edits · Aug 30, 2026

MODERATE

The enrolled version of AB 2531 significantly expands the California Reproductive Health Equity Program to include gender-affirming care alongside abortion and contraception, renaming it the 'California Reproductive and TGI Health Equity Program.' It also adds new administrative flexibility allowing the department to use contracts in addition to grants, broadens public records exemptions to cover all program-related information, and changes the application deadline from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2027.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from covering only abortion and contraception services to also covering gender-affirming care, and the department gained new authority to use contracts (not just grants) with broad procurement and transparency exemptions.

SCOPE

The program was renamed from 'California Reproductive Health Equity Program' to 'California Reproductive and TGI Health Equity Program,' and gender-affirming care was added as a covered service category throughout the bill. Providers may now offer either abortion and contraception services, or gender-affirming care services, or both.

REQUIREMENT

New subsections (c), (d), and (e) were added to Section 127632 allowing the department to carry out the program through grants AND contracts (including exclusive or nonexclusive contracts), with exemptions from state procurement rules, public records disclosure for all contracts/grants/related information, and exemptions from certain administrative requirements under Government Code Chapter 3.5.

TIMELINE

The deadline for the department to begin accepting grant applications was changed from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2027.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility criteria for low-income patients were expanded: coverage gaps now include lack of gender-affirming care coverage, and no-cost eligibility now includes those who can receive gender-affirming care at no cost through Medi-Cal.

ENFORCEMENT

Public records (CPRA) exemptions were broadened from covering only grant applications to covering all contracts, grants, and related information created under the chapter. Privacy protections for patient information in applications were also extended to cover gender-affirming care services.

03/16/26 - Amended Assembly → 08/13/26 - Amended Senate · 9 edits · Aug 13, 2026

MAJOR

The Senate amendment significantly expands AB 2531 by adding gender-affirming care to the California Reproductive Health Equity Program (renamed the California Reproductive and TGI Health Equity Program). The bill now covers abortion, contraception, AND gender-affirming care for low-income patients and veterans whose insurance does not cover these services. The Senate version also removes a technical amendment to the abortion information website law that was in the Assembly version, adds new administrative authority provisions, and expands the veteran definition to include those discharged under Executive Order 14183 (January 27, 2025).

SCOPE

The program is renamed from 'California Reproductive Health Equity Program' to 'California Reproductive and TGI Health Equity Program' and its scope is expanded to include gender-affirming care alongside abortion and contraception services.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility criteria now include individuals whose health coverage does not include gender-affirming care, and who are not otherwise eligible to receive gender-affirming care at no cost through the Medi-Cal program.

Providers may now apply for grants if they provide either abortion and contraception services OR gender-affirming care services (not necessarily all three), broadening which providers can participate.

DEFINITION

The veteran definition is expanded to include persons discharged solely as a result of Executive Order No. 14183 issued on January 27, 2025, in addition to the existing criteria (dishonorable discharge exclusion and service-connected disability).

TECHNICAL

The Assembly version's amendment to Section 123430 of the Health and Safety Code (regarding the abortion.ca.gov website content requirements) is removed entirely from the Senate version.

The fiscal committee vote is changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now requires fiscal committee review, likely due to the expanded program scope adding gender-affirming care.

REQUIREMENT

New subsections added to Section 127632 granting the department authority to carry out the program through grants and contracts, with exemptions from state procurement laws, Public Records Act disclosure for contracts and grants, and certain Government Code requirements.

ENFORCEMENT

The institutional provider protection against being required to publicly identify individual providers is expanded to cover both abortion and gender-affirming care providers (previously only abortion providers).

FISCAL

Grant application cost justifications now must account for uncompensated abortion, contraception, AND gender-affirming care services, both historical (previous 12 months) and anticipated (upcoming 12 months).

02/20/26 - Introduced → 03/16/26 - Amended Assembly · 7 edits · Mar 16, 2026

MODERATE

The amendment transforms AB 2531 from a minor technical fix to an abortion information website into a substantive expansion of California's Reproductive Health Equity Program to cover veterans. It adds a new eligibility category allowing veterans who lack abortion coverage through the VA system to receive no-cost or reduced-cost abortion and contraception services through state-funded grants, and requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to link to the state's abortion information website on its women veterans page. The change responds directly to the federal VA's December 2025 policy reversal that excluded abortion from its benefits package.

ELIGIBILITY

Veterans are now eligible for no-cost or reduced-cost abortion and contraception services under the Reproductive Health Equity Program if their health coverage does not include abortion or they cannot access care through the VA system, and they are not otherwise covered at no cost by Medi-Cal or Family PACT.

DEFINITION

A definition of 'veteran' is added that explicitly includes persons discharged under Executive Order No. 14183 (January 27, 2025), the order restricting transgender military service, ensuring those service members qualify for the program.

SCOPE

The bill now amends Sections 127632, 127633, and 127634 of the Health and Safety Code (the Reproductive Health Equity Program) in addition to the original Section 123430 website provision, and adds a new Section 92 to the Military and Veterans Code.

The purpose statement of the California Reproductive Health Equity Program was expanded to explicitly include 'patients who are veterans who would otherwise lack access to care' alongside low-income patients.

REQUIREMENT

The Department of Veterans Affairs must publish a link to the abortion.ca.gov website on its women veterans resources page.

Self-declaration of income, health coverage source, or veteran status at the time of service is sufficient to determine eligibility for no-cost or reduced-cost services; no documentation is required.

FISCAL

Grant applications under the Reproductive Health Equity Program must now include costs of uncompensated services provided to veterans in addition to low-income patients, and the fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating a state fiscal impact.

Floor votes · Senate Aug 25, 2026 · Assembly May 26, 2026

How they voted

30–10

Passed

Total votes 40

Aug 25, 2026

D Democratic30

30 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican10

10 Nay

100% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 18.).

lower

Aug 25, 2026

Introduced

In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

lower

Aug 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 30. Noes 9.).

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 13).

upper

Aug 3, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jun 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (June 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on M. & V.A. (Ayes 9. Noes 1.) (June 17). Re-referred to Com. on M. & V.A.

upper

Jun 10, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and M. & V.A.

upper

May 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 59. Noes 19.)

lower

May 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 4.) (May 14).

lower

May 6, 2026

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 2.) (April 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 8, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on M. & V.A. (Ayes 12. Noes 3.) (April 7). Re-referred to Com. on M. & V.A.

lower

Mar 17, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Coms. on HEALTH and M. & V.A.

lower

Feb 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

lower

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors