During testimony, Cortez Masto urges colleagues to protect women’s right to travel for essential health care
Published on June 12, 2024
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) called out anti-choice attempts to block women from traveling across state lines to access critical care. In testimony before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, Cortez Masto urged colleagues to pass her Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, which would reaffirm that women in states with abortion bans can freely travel to pro-choice states that can provide them with the reproductive care they need.
“I knew that Roe being struck down would only encourage anti-choice extremists to continue their crusade to control women. That’s why, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision two years ago, I wrote the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act and led my colleagues in introducing it,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Our legislation reaffirms that women have a fundamental right to interstate travel and makes it crystal clear: states cannot prosecute women – or anyone who helps them – for going to another state to get the critical reproductive care they need.”
The Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act underscores the Constitutional protections for interstate travel and provides redress for women whose rights are violated. The legislation would also protect health care providers in pro-choice states like Nevada from prosecution and lawsuits for serving individuals traveling from other states.
Senator Cortez Masto has been fierce advocate for women’s reproductive rights. She’s championed the Women’s Health Protection Act to guarantee equal access to abortion everywhere. She’s also a cosponsor of legislation to codify the right to contraception, and has urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect the data privacy of women seeking reproductive care. She took on one of the nation’s biggest pharmaceutical wholesalers to ensure Nevadans can access the abortion pill in retail pharmacies, including Walgreens.
This piece was republished from Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto.