California's State recently gave the final approval to a bill which allows nurses and midwives to perform abortion on patients that only doctors are allowed to do, the Bloomberg reported.
The measure by Assembly Majority Leader Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, passed the Senate with 25-11 votes.
The bill was initially passed in May to ratify amendments before it's sent to Governor Jerry Brown, also a Democrat.
The bill would allow abortions by midwives, physician assistants and nurse practitioners to conduct abortions among patients who are in the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy.
Four other states specifically Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon and Vermont allow non-physician abortions, according to a study from the University of California. The report noted that 39 other states require a licensed physician.
"All women should have timely access to reproductive health care regardless of whether they live in urban or rural areas and without excessive expense or travel," said Atkins.
The bill "will help fill the gap created by the fact that over half of California's counties lack an abortion provider," Atkins further stated.
Other states opposed to the approval of the bill.
Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas, a Republican, signed legislation last April that nbans abortion saying that life begins at fertilization, the Bloomberg reported.
