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Pen. Code, § 13778.2 · Title 5.7. REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT

Pen. Code, § 13778.2

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) A state or local law enforcement agency or officer shall not knowingly arrest or knowingly participate in the arrest of any person for performing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, in this state, or obtaining a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, in this state, if the legally protected health care activity is lawful under the laws of this state.

(b) A state or local public agency, or any employee thereof acting in their official capacity, shall not cooperate with or provide information to any individual or agency or department from another state or, to the extent permitted by federal law, to a federal law enforcement agency regarding a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, that is lawful under the laws of this state and that is performed in this state.

(c) (1) A law of another state that authorizes the imposition of civil or criminal penalties related to an individual performing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, in this state, or an individual obtaining a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, in this state, if the legally protected health care activity is lawful under the laws of this state, is against the public policy of this state.

(2) No state court, judicial officer, or court employee or clerk, or authorized attorney shall issue a subpoena pursuant to any state law in connection with a proceeding in another state regarding an individual performing, supporting, or aiding in the performance of a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, in this state, or an individual obtaining a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, in this state, if the legally protected health care activity is lawful under the laws of this state.

(d) This section does not prohibit the investigation of any criminal activity in this state that may involve the performance of a legally protected health care activity, as defined in Section 1549.15, provided that information relating to any medical procedure performed on a specific individual is not shared with an agency or individual from another state for the purpose of enforcing another state’s law involving a legally protected health care activity.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 679, Sec. 11. (AB 82) Effective January 1, 2026.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=13778.2.
Text hash
sha256 477af90e3fd7d92629ce06f755c2f8e9fffb0d0d3ebca30d74e9f2b2fdf9e4dd
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compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

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