Pro-abortion members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate have reintroduced legislation that would provide federal grants to organizations that facilitate abortions through travel assistance and other means.
The Reproductive Health Patient Navigator Act amends an existing law for grants through the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department. Reintroduced on July 20, the bill doesn’t specify a funding amount but mandates that the HHS Secretary create a grant program for so-called abortion “navigators.”
According to its text, the grants could fund efforts to inform women about abortion, as well as “[c]oordinating financing resources for travel-related costs, including transportation, childcare, and lodging.” Funding could also support:
- “Providing emotional wellness and doula support to individuals accessing abortion services”
- “Developing partnerships with local community organizations providing services for which eligible entity provides assistance, abortion service providers, and other patient navigators.”
The bill was introduced by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in the Senate and Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) in the House. It’s also received backing from the National Network of Abortion Funds, National Women’s Law Center, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and others.
HuffPost reported that Cortez Masto compared the bill to a navigator program for cancer patients.
“There are already programs out there that the federal government funds to help women connect with essential health care. Why should this be any different?” she reportedly asked.
Bill co-sponsor Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) decried “MAGA Republicans attempt[ing] to outlaw abortion nationwide” and said the Act would “support essential, reproductive health organizations and help connect women with fundamental health care services, especially in states where abortion is banned.”
Hirono echoed years of pro-abortion propaganda describing the killing of a preborn human as critical health care. That same type of rhetoric has popped up in discussions of how pro-life laws have impacted the patchwork of abortion access across the country. As Live Action News previously reported, abortion providers have claimed that women are crossing state lines in large numbers and creating spikes in the amount of out-of-state abortion seekers.
Regardless, some data has indicated a drop in abortions and thousands of lives saved even as some women travel to avoid pro-life restrictions. The limitations of those restrictions has prompted political and legal interventions designed to regulate cross-state travel for abortions. At the federal level, the Defense Department upset pro-life members of Congress by agreeing to reimburse travel for servicemembers’ abortions.
Cortez Masto tried but failed to pass the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022, which sought to “make it clear that anti-choice states can’t prosecute women who travel to another state for reproductive care,” according to her. Her navigator legislation also contains provisions shielding grant recipients from state action. More specifically, it includes a private cause of action for navigators and allows the Attorney General to bring civil action against states that impede or restrict navigators’ activities.
Within state governments, Democratic administrations sought to limit law enforcement action in response to out-of-state abortions. Nineteen attorneys general also sent a letter accusing the Biden administration of illegally restricting states’ access to abortion seekers’ medical records.
Federal law currently prohibits the use of federal funds for most abortions, though Democrats have repeatedly proposed undoing that decades-long policy.
