Aloha State News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As states across the country continue to attack women’s freedoms, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined 35 of her Senate colleagues in reintroducing the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act. This legislation, led by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), would block anti-choice states from limiting travel for abortion services and empower the Attorney General and impacted individuals to bring civil action against those who restrict a woman’s right to cross state lines to receive legal reproductive care.

“One year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans’ obsession with outlawing abortion nationwide and exerting control over our bodies and our lives has only grown,” said Senator Hirono. “As if restricting access to fundamental reproductive care wasn’t enough, these extremists are also working to prosecute women who travel to receive abortion care in states where it remains legal—such as Hawaii—as well as the health care providers who perform these services. Reproductive freedom is a fundamental right, and I am proud to join my colleagues in reintroducing this legislation to protect women and health care providers and support access to reproductive care for all.”

This April, Idaho became the first state to criminalize assisting with out-of-state travel for some seeking abortions. Anti-choice politicians in states like Tennessee, Texas, and Missouri are also trying to punish both women for leaving their state for reproductive care and the doctors and employers who help them. 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 Hawaii, from prosecution and lawsuits for serving individuals traveling from other states.

In addition to Senators Hirono, Cortez Masto, Whitehouse, Murray, and Gillibrand, the legislation is also cosponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Ed Markey (D-MA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tom Carper (D-DE), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

This legislation is endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Women’s Law Center, Center for Reproductive Rights, Physicians for Reproductive Health, National Partnership for Women & Families, Catholics for Choice, Power to Decide, National Council of Jewish Women, and the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association.

A long-time champion for abortion access, Senator Hirono is committed to protecting the fundamental right to abortion care for all. Senator Hirono’s steps on securing abortion access and reproductive health care includes:

• In May 2023, Senator Hirono led the reintroduction of the My Body, My Data Act, legislation to create a new national standard to protect reproductive and sexual health data by minimizing the information collected and retained, and preventing that information from being disclosed or misused.
• Also in May 2023, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Affordability is Access Act to help ensure that once the FDA approves an over-the-counter birth control option, insurers must fully cover over-the-counter birth control without any out-of-pocket costs.
• In March 2023, Senator Hirono reintroduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act, a bicameral bill that would help guarantee abortion coverage–without restrictions–for millions of Americans.
• Also in March 2023, Senator Hirono led the reintroduction of the Abortion Provider Appreciation Day Resolution, a bicameral congressional resolution honoring abortion providers and clinic staff.
• In March 2023, Senator Hirono introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2023, federal legislation to guarantee access to abortion, everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive health care for millions of Americans.
• In March 2023, Senator Hirono led her colleagues in pushing to prevent local and state law enforcement from using federal assistance to surveil or investigate individuals receiving or providing abortion care.
• In February 2023, Senator Hirono introduced the Secure Access for Essential Reproductive (SAFER) Health Act, legislation that would expand patient privacy protections by strengthening HIPAA to prohibit medical providers from disclosing personal health information related to abortion or pregnancy loss without patient consent.
• In September 2022, Senator Hirono also urged the Biden administration to take new steps to protect reproductive freedom amidst divided control of Congress and increasing efforts to restrict access to abortion.
• In August 2022, she introduced the Let Doctors Provide Reproductive Health Care Act to protect doctors against Republicans’ non-stop attacks and ensure they can safely provide abortion care in states where it is still legal.
• In August 2022, she also led a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services urging them to make medication abortion more easily accessible.
•  In July 2022, Senator Hirono introduced the Right to Contraception Act, as well as the Expanding Access to Family Planning Act, to protect access to critical reproductive health care services, like birth control, and cancer screenings.
• In July 2022, Senator Hirono introduced the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022, which clarifies that it is illegal for anti-choice states to limit travel for abortion services, and would empower impacted individuals to bring civil action against those who restrict an individual’s right to cross state lines to receive legal reproductive care. 
• In July 2022, she also led her colleagues in calling on the VA to begin offering abortion services following the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Secretary McDonough then announced that VA would heed that call and begin offering abortion services in cases of rape, incest, or the life and health of the mother.
• In July 2022, she also called upon the Department of Veterans Affairs to take immediate administrative action to offer abortions and all abortion-related services to veterans and eligible dependents.
• In June 2022, she introduced the Affordability is Access Act to help ensure that people across the country can access and afford over-the-counter birth control options and plan their own reproductive lives, on their own terms.
• In July 2022, she introduced the Abortion is Health Care Everywhere Act, which would repeal the 1973 Helms Amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act to ensure that U.S. foreign assistance may be used to provide the full scope of comprehensive health care, including safe and legal access to abortion services.
• In June 2022, Senator Hirono also introduced the My Body, My Data Act, legislation to protect personal reproductive health data by minimizing the information collected and retained, and preventing that information from being disclosed or misused; the bill would protect reproductive health data from sources like fertility tracking apps.
• In March 2022, Senator Hirono introduced legislation to expand protections for Americans’ personal health data privacy following reports that have shown social media companies are collecting and data brokers are selling location data that could be used to identify individuals seeking reproductive health care services.
• She also led 30 of her colleagues in pushing to prevent local and state law enforcement from using federal assistance to surveil or investigate individuals receiving or providing abortion care.
• Also in March 2022, she led the first introduction of the Abortion Provider Appreciation Day resolution. 

Original source can be found here.