Sen. Lankford Blocks Democrats' Bid to Unanimously Protect Travel for Abortion

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., blocked a Democratic Party request Thursday to unanimously pass Senate legislation that would protect interstate travel for abortion.

Earlier in the day, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., led the Democrats' consent request for the bill that would preclude states who have restricted or eliminated abortion from punishing women who cross state lines to get an abortion in states where it remains legal.

Also, the measure would have reportedly granted protections to healthcare providers handling the abortions with out-of-state patients.

This prompted Lankford to pose two questions before his Senate colleagues: "Does that child in the womb have the right to travel in their future? Do they get to live?"

Lankford added, "There's a child in this conversation, as well."

In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade on June 24 (by a 5-4 decision), Democrats have begun exploring other means (legislative/executive orders) for working around the high court's ruling.

Cortez Masto — who's up for reelection in November, taking on Republican challenger Adam Laxalt — said the interstate-travel bill would be a boon for healthcare providers who are worried about being sued for treating out-of-state abortion patients.

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 the obligation to shield them from prosecution.

"And we need to make sure that healthcare providers, no matter where they are, Colorado and other states, are safe from prosecution, to say nothing of the women themselves, to say nothing of teenage girls themselves."

Bennet then added: "I can't believe we're even having this conversation on the floor of the United States Senate. I can't believe it. But that's the America we live in now because of this Supreme Court."

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., speculated that Republicans were actively "drafting legislation to ban travel for abortion."

Murray also had a specific response to Lankford's move to block.

"Anyone telling you this is not a threat [to banning interstate travel for abortions] is not paying attention," she said.

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