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Press Release
ICYMI: Reproductive Freedom Champions in Congress Mark Dobbs Anniversary With Legislative Action and Accountability Measures
ICYMI: Reproductive Freedom Champions in Congress Mark Dobbs Anniversary With Legislative Action and Accountability Measures
Four years after the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, reproductive freedom champions in Congress are fighting back and advancing legislation to protect access to reproductive health care. Across Capitol Hill, lawmakers and advocates are drawing attention to how abortion bans have expanded threats to patients, providers, and the broader reproductive health care system—including attacks on interstate travel, threats against health care providers, and efforts to undermine medical training. In response, Democrats are demanding accountability and advancing a series of bills aimed at preserving access to legal reproductive health care.
On Capitol Hill last Wednesday, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and House Leader Hakeem Jeffries each held press conferences, joined by Senate Democrats, Democratic House leadership, the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, the Democratic Women’s Caucus, and Reproductive Freedom for All, highlighting the deadly consequences of the Dobbs decision and Republican lawmakers’ ongoing assault on reproductive freedom. At the Senate press conference, Mini Timmaraju condemned “this Congress of Republican extremists” for being complicit in efforts to ban abortion, asserting they had “aligned themselves with one of the most extreme administrations in the nation’s history.” She warned that Senate Republicans planned to mark the anniversary by pushing anti-reproductive freedom measures, but that Senate Democrats would fight back—and voters would hold Republicans accountable. Senator Patty Murray also hosted a spotlight forum where Senate Democrats heard directly from panelists who have firsthand experience of the consequences of Dobbs and subsequent abortion bans.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Senate leaders sent a letter to Trump and Secretary Kennedy demanding answers about the recently-launched Moms.gov. The letter raises concerns about the site’s promotion of anti-abortion centers—so-called “crisis pregnancy centers”—and the documented mishandling of patients’ sensitive health information. It criticizes the use of public resources to direct pregnant people—under the guise of offering resources—to facilities run by anti-abortion organizations that have a well-documented history of misleading, shaming, and deceiving patients seeking abortion care.
Earlier this month, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto reintroduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, which would block states with abortion bans from restricting interstate travel for abortion services. Since Dobbs, anti-abortion politicians have pushed efforts to investigate, prosecute, and sue people who travel out of state for abortion care, as well as their health care providers and anyone who assists them. The bill reaffirms the constitutional right to interstate travel and prohibits any state or locality from restricting travel for reproductive health care. It also empowers the U.S. attorney general and impacted individuals to bring legal action against those who violate these protections.
On the anniversary of Dobbs, Democrats advanced legislation to protect access to reproductive health care nationwide.
Also on Wednesday, Senators Tammy Baldwin and Patty Murray reintroduced the Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act, which would allow the Treasury Secretary to award grants to abortion funds to help cover travel and related expenses for patients forced to seek abortion care out of state. Since the Dobbs decision, people seeking abortion care have faced longer travel distances and higher costs, increasing both the financial strain on abortion funds and the number of people who rely on them. This bill would provide critical support for travel and logistical costs.
Senator Patty Murray and Representative Kim Schrier reintroduced the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act, which would ensure providers can continue offering legal abortion care, including to patients traveling from other states. It responds to a growing effort by anti-abortion politicians to extend abortion bans beyond state lines. Republican attorneys general have urged Congress to invalidate shield laws that protect out-of-state providers, and providers have faced increasing harassment through threats of lawsuits, criminal penalties, and loss of licensure for delivering care that remains legal in their states. This legislation would help protect providers from out-of-state interference and preserve access to legal reproductive health care for everyone.
Lawmakers also advanced legislation to address the impact abortion bans are having on medical education and the broader reproductive health care workforce. Representatives Lizzie Fletcher, Kelly Morrison, and Kim Schrier introduced the SAFE Training for OB-GYNs Act, which creates a grant program for OB-GYN residency programs in states where abortion remains legal and expands training opportunities for residents from states with abortion bans.
Taken together, these actions reflect a coordinated effort by champions of reproductive freedom to respond to the post-Dobbs landscape—supporting access to care, protecting providers from political interference, and expanding training for future clinicians. As Republican lawmakers continue to advance measures that ban abortion, restrict access to care, and criminalize people across state lines, Democrats in Congress are fighting to reinforce legal protections and put medical decisions back into the hands of pregnant people and their doctors, not politicians.
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
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