This article contains mentions of sexual assault.
Gov. Gavin Newsom released an advertisement Sunday in response to the increased restrictions and legal consequences for those who travel across state lines for abortion access.
The 30-second advertisement, which aired in Tennessee, shows a tearful young woman handcuffed to a hospital bed crying out for help. Beside her is a sexual assault evidence kit. A narrator reads, “Trump Republicans want to criminalize young women who travel to receive the reproductive care they need. Don’t let them hold Tennessee women hostage.”
Newsom’s advertising campaign comes after Tennessee legislation established an “abortion trafficking” felony that targets adults who help transport pregnant minors for reproductive care without parental consent. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, 14 states have implemented abortion bans, according to the Center for American Progress.
A UCLA report in 2022 estimated that between 8,000 and 16,000 women will travel to California each year for abortion care.
Paula Tavrow, a UCLA adjunct professor of community health sciences, said that the advertisement shines a light on the kind of legislation that is being passed after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Tavrow said that this advertisement was an important step in raising awareness about the ongoing legal threats to abortion access.
“We pride ourselves as a country that is based on freedoms, and this ad is showing that women are literally chained to a bed with the idea that they would not be free to exercise or to obtain reproductive health care outside of their state,” Tavrow said. “It’s an appalling infringement on women’s rights.”
Ashwin Balaje, a senior from Tennessee studying computational neuroscience, said that he hopes the advertisement makes an impact on voters in his home state.
“Growing up in Tennessee, I know that the Tennessee senate and the Tennessee congress is largely dominated by people who are in favor of abortion bans and abortion measures like this,” Balaje said. “I think that for a lot of voters, they’re just strongly against abortion in all cases.”
Balaje said that he is hopeful that the more attention brought to the issue, the more public sway could potentially pave the way for federal legislation.
“If this happens to other states as well, we can have some federal legislation to enable travel and things of that nature,” Balaje said. “I’m not sure how feasible that is, but at least building some sort of momentum towards it, swinging public opinion to be more in favor of measures like that, could be impactful.”
Ally Atwell, a student from Texas majoring in theater, said that she thought the way the advertisement was written would make for a compelling message.
“I think that having it on air in red states is a good thing, because of the way the commercial is, and it’s not so much pointing a finger, it’s more like telling a story, which I think is a good thing,” Atwell said. “I kind of have to have hope that it would be effective.”
Tavrow said the advertisement should signal to Californians the importance of voting and maintaining local structures in place of Roe v. Wade.
“These shield laws that we have recently introduced to shield abortion providers who might dismiss people from other states so that… if the Tennesseans get abortion pills from a California provider, Tennessee could not prosecute that California provider,” Tavrow said. “I think these are important things for us to maintain.”
USC professor Randall A. Lake, an expert in public communication, including rhetoric of social change and presidential discourse, said that Newsom’s campaigning efforts in red states emphasize and appeal to the diverse range of voters present in every state.
“Opinion polling on reproductive choice would suggest that red states are not monolithic and that to succeed nationally, advocates for reproductive rights need to talk to folks from those states,” Lake said. “There is a kind of a broader recognition among Democrats that they shouldn’t just ‘surrender’ red states that that’s not a path to ultimate success.”
Balaje said he was unsure about the results of Newsom’s social campaign, but the advertisement is a clear and effective criticism of the legislative direction of his home state.
“I don’t know if it will be enough to sway public opinion enough to get them to vote for somebody else other than whoever is just the primary Republican candidate in their county or district,” he said. “I love Tennessee, that’s my home and where I grew up, but this ad is a stark reminder of where it’s heading and that’s just so disappointing and upsetting to me.”