Rapid Fire Interview with Class of 2022 Asm. Pilar Schiavo
Asm. Pilar Schiavo speaks about her introduction of AB 608, which extends the Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program by a full year following pregnancy, her advice to progressive women running in purple districts, and how it feels to be part of the Women’s Caucus in this critical time for reproductive freedom.
Thank you Asm. Schiavo for sitting down with CTG and serving as an inspiration for future legislators statewide!
What is one bill you’ve authored in the 2023 legislative session that you are especially excited about?
It’s so hard to choose just one! I am really proud of the legislative package we’ve put forward — many bills which have passed through committee with unanimous, bipartisan support — tackling the issues most important to our community like homelessness, housing affordability, health care, reproductive freedom, gun safety, the environment, and more.
One that I am really hopeful will make a huge difference for folks is AB 608, aimed at supporting women, newborns, and families in the first year after childbirth. While current law provides full scope Medi-Cal benefits for pregnant individuals for a full calendar year after pregnancy ends, it does not include perinatal services. AB 608 extends the Comprehensive Perinatal Services Program (CPSP) for a year following pregnancy, Expanding coverage for this important CPSP care and additional assessments through beyond 60 days post pregnancy is critical especially access to Perinatal Health Workers, who provide culturally competent care in homes and communities, so ensure moms and babies get the care they need where and when they need it.
As a mother, I know that childbirth and parenting is unique to each family.
However, without postpartum support, some challenges parents face can lead to disruptions with the mental and physical wellbeing of parent or child. For example, it’s estimated that postpartum depression affects 1 in 7 parents after delivery and often doesn’t present until well after birth. If unaddressed, this can lead to long-term behavioral health issues in children, and, in severe cases, suicide. More than four of every five people who die by suicide after the end of their pregnancy, died in the late postpartum period 43–365 days after birth. Extending CPSP into that first year after pregnancy can help treat postpartum depression and reduce the number of suicides, and we should be doing everything we can to make these services easily accessible to more families.
As the only California Democrat to unseat a GOP incumbent in 2022, what advice would you give to progressive women running to flip purple seats in 2024?
As I was deciding to run for office and even throughout my campaign, I had people suggest that I was too progressive to run for a purple seat. In fact — which was shocking and incredibly disappointing — my primary opponent, who was also a Democratic woman, attacked me for my values in mail pieces that ended up being used by my Republican opponent as well. However, what I knew to be true then, and I know now more than ever, is that our community — much like communities across this state — face challenges every single day. And what they need and deserve from their elected leaders is someone who will listen, who will fight for them, and who will deliver. I share my community’s concerns about homelessness, having housing we can afford, keeping our community safe and protecting children from gun violence, lowering the cost of fire insurance and reducing threats from wildfires, providing needed support for veterans and seniors, and accessing healthcare that won’t bankrupt them.
So all that to say, my advice is: be authentically who you are. Stand up for your community and your shared values. Don’t listen to the critics who try to talk you out of stepping up to serve.
If you are connected with your community and understand their challenges and priorities, and you’re well-positioned to deliver on what they need, where you are on the political spectrum is irrelevant.
We are so thrilled that you’ve jumped right into reinforcing California’s critical role as a sanctuary for reproductive freedom. Can you tell us about your efforts on that front, and how it feels to be part of our Women’s Caucus in these times?
While I have always been committed to protecting our reproductive freedom, running for office as Roe was overturned made that responsibility even more clear and more serious. We are no longer living in the hypothetical of “if we no longer have access to abortion care.” That time is now. We are so lucky to live in a state where so many lawmakers are at the forefront of ensuring our reproductive freedom is never eroded, including at the highest level with the Governor and First Partner. But as a woman and mom of a pre-teen daughter and 23 year old step-daughter, it is important to be on the frontlines of this fight in the legislature.
That’s why I authored AB710, which will protect women and families by establishing a public awareness campaign that provides individuals seeking reproductive healthcare with reliable and factual information about where abortion and reproductive care is provided around the state. This bill is needed because fake pregnancy centers, which outnumber abortion clinics in California by 20%, use deceptive practices to lure vulnerable women into their centers for care when in fact, most don’t provide reproductive health services and none provide or refer for abortions. This compromises women’s ability to get the care they need when time is of the essence and when they most need support.
Just days before our hearing on this bill, I learned personally why understanding where you can seek abortion care really matters. I was supporting someone I care for deeply who needed urgent access to abortion care services, and delaying her care for just a few days would have threatened her ability to access an abortion.
I am actually being attacked now by anti-choice extremists who don’t want this factual information to be made available to the public, and I expect that to continue throughout my time in office and my next campaign for re-election. Frankly, if these fake pregnancy centers have nothing to hide, providing the public with factual information about where they can seek abortion care wouldn’t be a problem.
Being part of the Women’s Caucus is so special right now. With more women than ever before serving in the legislature, California benefits from having such a great diversity of perspectives at the table, putting forth legislation that will have really important benefits for women and families.
And as a single mom in office, I have the best support group of women around me who offer support, encouragement, and guidance. I can only imagine what it will be like when we reach our goal of parity!
Close the Gap California is committed to building on progressive women’s historic momentum by recruiting them statewide and achieving equality in California by 2028. Join us!
About Close the Gap California
Close the Gap California (CTG) is a statewide campaign to close the gender gap in the California Legislature by 2028. By recruiting accomplished, progressive women in targeted districts and preparing them to launch competitive campaigns, CTG has been changing the face of the Legislature one cycle at a time since launching in 2013.
Twenty CTG Recruits (14 of them women of color) are serving in Sacramento today. CTG Recruits are committed to reproductive freedom, public school funding, and combating poverty.
