New California laws allowing non-physicians to perform abortions and repealing some building regulations that govern abortion clinics “dramatically increase the availability of abortion” in the state, said the president of the California Catholic Conference.

“We oppose abortion, and until it becomes illegal, we will oppose measures which expand it – especially when it is at the expense of the girls and women undergoing the procedure,” said Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Wilkerson of Los Angeles.

On Oct. 9, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a measure that permits a nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife or physician assistant “to perform an abortion by aspiration techniques during the first trimester of pregnancy.”

“This change in the law will effectively create a two-tier health system,” Wilkerson said in a statement.

Most clients of the non-physicians “will be women and girls who are poor, whereas women and girls with means will seek out physicians with surgical skills and hospital-admitting privileges for their abortions.”