Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), along with a number of Democratic senators, had sought consensus on passage of a bill that would prevent states from penalizing women who travel to other states where abortion is legal to have an abortion. in process. The measure would also protect health care providers who provide abortions to out-of-state patients. “Does this child in the womb have the right to travel to his future?” Lankford objected. “Can they live?” “There is also a child in this conversation,” he added. With full-scale legislation to codify Roe v. Wade lacking the votes to pass the upper house, Democrats sought other legislative answers after the Supreme Court threw out the nearly 50-year-old decision that established the constitutional right to abortion. A number of Democratic senators had come out in favor of the measure before Thursday’s request. Cortez Masto said the bill was necessary to protect abortion providers even in states where abortion remains legal, saying she has heard from some who worry about being sued if they provide abortions to out-of-state patients. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) pointed to reports that conservative groups are “right now drafting legislation to ban abortion travel.” While Democrats have said the right to travel for an abortion is also constitutionally protected, they have sought to provide additional protections under the law. “Anyone who tells you this isn’t a threat isn’t paying attention,” Murray said. Indiana AG threatens license of doctor who provided abortion to 10-year-old rape victim The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Investigation twists and turns January 6 Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said that “if people from other states need to come to Colorado to access the care they need, Congress has an obligation to protect them from prosecution.” “And we need to make sure that health care providers wherever they are, Colorado and other states, are safe from prosecution, to say nothing of the women themselves, to say nothing of the teenage girls themselves,” he continued. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation on the floor of the United States Senate,” he added. “I can not believe it. But this is the America we live in now because of this Supreme Court.”
