drought
A dried-up canal runs off the Colorado River Aqueduct, in drought-stricken Hayfield Lake, Calif., on May 18, 2015. A California State Assemblywoman has suggested that stricter abortion laws in the state would bring an end to the drought. REUTERS

A Republican California State Assemblywoman has a new idea for what is causing the widespread drought in her state: abortions. Assemblywoman Shannon Grove suggested that if the state were to implement more restrictive abortion laws like the 20-week ban in Texas, then California just might pull out of its unprecedented four-year drought.

She brought a bible to the podium for her speech at a pro-life banquet last week. While speaking, she held the bible aloft and said, “This is the infallible word of God. I fear him more than I fear anyone,” according to RH Reality Check.

Grove pointed to a 2013 bill signed by then-Gov. Rick Perry in Texas that put a limit on abortions at 20 weeks. At the time of the signing, Grove said, Texas was in a drought. The night Perry signed the legislation, it rained. "Texas was in a long period of drought until Gov. Perry signed the fetal pain bill," she said. "It rained that night. Now God has His hold on California."

The issue of 20-week abortions has been brought up all over the country recently, including on the federal level. GOP presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduced a bill that would apply to abortions for the nation as a whole. There is some question about the constitutionality of the proposed bans. An Arizona ban was struck down in 2013 and wasn’t accepted in the Supreme Court. Idaho’s ban was struck down in May in a federal appeals court as well.

Thirteen states in the country have 20-week abortion bans in some form or another. Of the states that do not, some, like Vermont and New Jersey, are not currently experiencing a drought.

The upswell of abortion bans in states is part of a 2011 plan developed by anti-abortion activists, according to the New York Times. Fines for violating the bans can be severe: A 20-week abortion ban that is currently making its way through the Wisconsin state legislature would impose a $10,000 fine or 42-month prison sentence for physicians who violate the law.

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