California governor pardons abortion activist from 1940s

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom has posthumously pardoned an abortion activist from the 1930s and 1940s. He acted Friday, days before Californians finish voting on enshrining increased protections in the state Constitution in response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. Laura Miner was convicted in 1949 of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion. She was sentenced to four years in prison on the twin felonies, and died in 1976. California’s original 1850 Constitution criminalized abortions. Miner was among those who provided them at a time when abortion was still illegal in California except when necessary to protect a woman’s life.