Bid to Reverse Abortion Ruling Rejected by Court

SAN FRANCISCO — The state Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a renewed attempt by the Deukmejian Administration to revive strict legislative limitations on state-funded abortions for low-income women.

The action marked the 11th consecutive year the state high court has refused to allow the restrictions to take effect. As a result, an estimated 80,000 or more women will continue to receive abortions under the state’s Medi-Cal program, which provides medical assistance for indigents.

There had been widespread speculation that the newly aligned and more conservative high court might reverse a 1981 ruling under then-Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird holding that the restrictions violated the right to privacy.

Dorothy Ehrlich, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, one of the groups that had challenged the restrictions, called the court’s action “a tremendous victory. . . . This will have a significant impact on the lives of California women and their rights to their own reproductive destinies.”

William D. Lockett, assistant chief counsel for the Department of Health Services, expressed disappointment. “We thought we had a valid legal argument,” he said.

The Legislature began enacting the restrictions on state-financed abortions in 1978. But each year they were struck down in the courts and have never taken effect.