California abortion-info law ups stakes in online war between states

California's unprecedented new law to bolster protections for abortion-related personal information held by tech companies marks a new phase in the deepening legal fight between red and blue states over digital regulations. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed into law an abortion rights bill with a provision that protects reproductive digital information housed by companies headquartered or incorporated in the state. With Congress deadlocked over national laws to govern online privacy and free speech, states are stepping into conflicts over abortion rights and censorship and setting their own, sometimes contradictory rules. Broadly speaking, California's move follows conflicts in Texas and Florida over laws intended to prevent tech platforms from discriminating against "points of view." However, as the partisan divide between Democratic-led and Republican-dominated states grows, states are increasingly passing laws governing the digital realm that put them at direct odds with one another. Ultimately, Attorney General Rob Bonta (D-CA) points to the experimentality of American democracy, as the States, "... are laboratories of innovation that provide approaches no one thought of that are new, different, cutting-edge."