In Case You Missed It, ahead of the one year anniversary of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) pushed for passage of her Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act, which would keep anti-choice states from limiting travel for reproductive health care services. She took to the floor of the Senate to call out far-right Republicans for blocking her common sense legislation to protect women.
The New York Times: Senate Democrats Seek to Highlight G.O.P. Opposition to Abortion Rights
Senate Democrats on Wednesday forced consideration of measures intended to protect women’s health and reproductive freedom, using the upcoming anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to remind voters of Republican opposition to measures with broad voter approval. […]
Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, said there was “an obsession on the left with abortion” and that a bill to ensure women could travel to receive abortion care was “dealing with a phantom problem, a phantom law that does not exist.”
There are currently no abortion bans that attempt to prosecute women who cross state lines to seek an abortion. But Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat of Nevada, said that “constitutional rights don’t enforce themselves” and that many states were looking at laws that would do just that.
“What we do have an obsession with is freedom,” Ms. Cortez Masto said in an impassioned retort on the floor.
NPR: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto on reproductive health efforts
Wednesday afternoon a number of Democratic Senators are going to the chamber’s floor to call for the passage of the “Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act.” The goal of the legislation is to quote “block anti-choice states from limiting travel for abortion services.” Here & Now’s Robin Young speaks with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Democrat from Nevada, who is part of the efforts.
Cortez Masto: For years I’ve heard ‘Well, don’t worry, Roe vs. Wade is precedent’ from the nominees that came before the Judiciary while I’ve been here in the senate, ‘Don’t worry we are not going to overturn it’. But they did. And then we see this opinion come down, and ‘Well, it’s a state’s rights issue, don’t worry.’ But we now know that far-right Republicans in the Senate, in Congress, are continuing to take away those rights. So, yes, everybody should be concerned. And that’s why not only will I, but my colleagues will continue to fight on the floor of the Senate to protect women’s rights in this country and their freedoms.
MSNBC: Cortez Masto Joins Morning Joe Ahead of the Anniversary of Roe’s Fall
Cortez Masto: Not just in Nevada, but across the country, so many women and men support the right of a woman to make these decisions. But we see what’s happening across the country. And we have to continue to push back this this week. We’re going to continue to fight for this legislation and draw attention to the fact that these far-right, extreme Republicans are not even following a majority of what the public wants in this country.
The Nevada Independent: Nevada Democrats keep abortion top of mind one year after Roe overturned
On the day the Supreme Court overturned nearly 50 years of precedent and decided Americans have no constitutional right to an abortion, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) was in Washington, D.C.
She spent the morning of June 24, 2022, texting with her mother and sister. She joined Senate Democrats in walking to the court and protesting the decision. And with just months to go until Election Day, she made abortion access a centerpiece of her 2022 re-election campaign. […]
It’s an issue where Democrats are able to draw sharp distinctions.
“Even when I go to the floor of the Senate, I say [to Republicans], what is it about this issue that you do not trust women to make decisions on their own?” Cortez Masto said. “They can’t answer that. We see their answer: it is to ignore it.”
Roll Call: Dobbs anniversary finds Democrats still on offense on abortion policy
Inside the Capitol, Senate Democrats made unanimous consent requests to get GOP senators to object to a number of pieces of targeted abortion rights-related legislation in response to the 5-4 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That includes a bill spearheaded by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., that would ensure women have the ability to travel across state lines for abortion services.
“One year after Roe vs. Wade was overturned, we need this bill more than ever. Our legislation reaffirms that women have a fundamental right to interstate travel and makes crystal clear that states cannot prosecute women or anyone who helps them for going to another state to get the critical reproductive care that they need,” Cortez Masto said on the Senate floor.
Politico: Democrats’ new fronts on abortion
364 DAYS SINCE DOBBS — Saturday marks one year since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion across the nation. The landmark case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, redrew battle lines across the country, including on Capitol Hill, where there are familiar fights playing out alongside fresh legislative questions.
Democrats are fighting — where they can — to protect abortion access where they didn’t have to before (or haven’t since pre-Roe). […]
Interstate travel: In the post-Dobbs landscape, where abortion restrictions vary widely state-by-state, Democrats are on offense as well to try and protect a patient’s right to travel across state lines to receive an abortion. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) has a bill that would bar anyone from interfering with out-of-state travel for reproductive care. An attempt to move the bill by unanimous consent was halted this week by GOP objections.
Cortez Masto: “We have children growing up, young girls growing up, with less rights than their parents or grandmothers had. So, it is outrageous this day in age.”
This week, Senator Cortez Masto joined other abortion-rights lawmakers in reintroducing the freedom to travel for health care act on the senate floor. The legislation would block states from limiting travel for abortion services. It would also empower the Attorney General and impacted individuals to bring civil action against those who restrict a woman’s right to cross state lines for legal reproductive care.
It has been one year since the overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the issue of abortion rights continues to divide the nation. Today, Democrats, including Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, laid out a new game plan warning more battles over health care rights are on the horizon. […]
The game plan includes reintroducing a series of bills that do things including protecting women who travel out of state for care, shoring up birth control access, and shielding health care privacy data.
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