San Francisco voters overwhelmingly supported a proposition preserving abortion access in The City.
Proposition O passed on Election Day, carrying 83.7% of the counted votes as of Sunday afternoon. Approximately 44,000 ballots were still outstanding at that time, city elections officials said.
“I’m really thankful for San Francisco turning out in the way that it is,” Veronica Lempert, the manager of the Yes on O campaign told The Examiner during an election night watch party at Little Skillet, a soul food restaurant near Oracle Park. “Not surprised.”
Outgoing San Francisco Mayor London Breed proposed the proposition — otherwise known as the San Francisco Reproductive Act — in June. The measure will make it city policy for San Francisco to “serve as a safe and welcoming place for patients seeking reproductive health care,” as well as codify further protections for abortion and reproductive rights in The City.
Among the changes, San Francisco’s planning code would now allow reproductive health clinics to be built without restrictions in planning districts that aren’t residential an on corner lots in residential districts. The Department of Public Health would also have to maintain a public website listing facilities offering abortions, emergency contraception or referrals to those services.