California Democrats are planning to criminalize healthcare providers who report victims of abuse to police by reversing legislation that makes not reporting such a case a misdemeanor.
Reps. Tina McKinnon and Buffy Wicks authored Assembly Bill 1028, which would eliminate the mandate for healthcare practitioners to report to the police if they suspect that a patient has been the victim of physical violence from assaultive or abusive behavior.
Changing Reporting of Domestic Violence Victims to Police
If the new bill is signed into law, it would make it illegal for healthcare providers to notify law enforcement personnel regarding potential patient victimization. However, the bill would not apply to situations where patients are seen to have sustained wounds or physical injuries due to self-inflicted acts, firearm-related incidents, child abuse, sexual assault, or elder abuse.
The bill's proponents have argued that the change would help victims access assistance by removing police officers as the first choice of contact. However, critics have argued that it would simply become another way for these types of cases to slip through the cracks and leave the most vulnerable in the hands of their abusers, as per Fox News.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Republican Sen. Melissa Melendez said that the bill is only good news for abusers and bad news for the abused. She added that human traffickers would love the new bill.
As outlined in its summary, the measure urges healthcare providers to offer patients they suspect of being a victim of abuse a "brief counseling" before a "warm handoff" or a referral to a local domestic violence advocacy agency.
The bill also recognizes that abuse survivors more often need access to health care and medical treatment apart from police reporting and criminal legal involvement. It would replace mandated police reporting by medical professionals with offering connection to survivor services.
The new bill comes as, in 2021; there were a total of 18,185 domestic violence incidents were reported to law enforcement in the San Diego region. The San Diego Association of Governments also noted an average of 13 domestic violence-related homicides per year in the area, according to KPBS.
Domestic Violence in California
A former San Diego city attorney, Casey Gwinn, also a founder of the local Family Justice Center for domestic violence victims, said lawmakers would be making a mistake if they pass the new bill.
He argued that it would cause serious injury or death to victims of domestic violence. He added that anybody who believes the measure is pro-survivor or pro-domestic violence intervention is delusional.
The controversy surrounding the protection of domestic abuse victims was highlighted after the state auditor last year examined intervention programs for domestic abusers. They found systemic failures, including court oversight and probation monitoring.
Late last month, a Los Angeles Democrat, Reggie Jones-Sawyer, started helping a coalition of organizations push the Legislature to include $50 million in the budget. The fund would help prevent and end domestic and sexual violence and marks a significant boost to current funding, said the Los Angeles Times.
