A that would protect people traveling across state lines for abortion care failed to pass the U.S. Senate on Thursday. But 海角换妻 reproductive rights advocates say the legislation is critical to protecting the basic right to travel and bodily autonomy.
Abortion-rights advocates and 海角换妻 U.S. senators held a virtual videoconference call Friday morning to talk about the importance of the bill.
鈥淚n those 25 states, where there are bans and possibly more, there may also be criminal penalties and civil actions possible against not only the patients and women who seek the services, but also against providers and against employers who helped them,鈥� said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a co-sponsor of the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act. 鈥淭he consequences require action by the United States Congress to clarify and solidify the right to travel across state lines to receive essential health care in reproductive rights and abortion services.鈥�
The bill comes after Missouri proposed that would prevent interstate travel from states with abortion bans to states like 海角换妻, where abortion remains legal. The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act would preempt any state law that would prevent someone from traveling for abortion care. And it would shield health care providers from legal action for providing care to someone from an anti-abortion state.
The act would go hand in hand with a recent 海角换妻 bill that welcomes people from out of state to seek abortion in the state.
鈥満＝腔黄� provides a safe harbor, as any state can do. But it can鈥檛 protect against those lawsuits in other states that may be pursued even without cooperation from the state,鈥� Blumenthal said.
While 海角换妻 will not cooperate with legal action against individuals in other states, it can鈥檛 insulate people from prosecution when they return to their original state, Blumenthal added.
And that鈥檚 why the act is crucial.
Abortion-rights organizations in 海角换妻 agree.
鈥淩estrictions on travel to access abortion are a threat and a blatant attack against women and all people who believe in bodily autonomy and the right to make our own choices about our futures,鈥� said Jan茅e Woods Weber, the executive director of the 海角换妻 Women鈥檚 Education and Legal Fund.
Woods Weber added that restrictions on travel are also classist and racist.
鈥淲e know affluent and even middle-class white women from those same places will always find a way to access safe abortion, even when abortion is banned and deeply restricted in the [states] where they live,鈥� she added.
Low-income people and people of color in those same states may not have that luxury, Woods Weber said. And therefore, halting travel restrictions is just the first step in fighting for full reproductive freedom for everyone.
