United States S 2053: Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2023

Bill Text

II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION S. 2053
To protect freedom of travel and reproductive rights.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JUNE 20, 2023
Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs.
GILLIBRAND, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. MARKEY,
Ms. STABENOW, Mr. COONS, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. WYDEN,
Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr.
MENENDEZ, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BENNET, Ms. SMITH, Mr. CARPER,
Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms.
HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BROWN, Mr.
HICKENLOOPER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr.
FETTERMAN, Ms. ROSEN, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To protect freedom of travel and reproductive rights.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom to Travel 4
for Health Care Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) The right to travel freely and voluntarily 1
among the several States is one of the chief privi-2
leges and immunities guaranteed to all citizens of 3
the United States by the 14th Amendment and one 4
of the fundamental rights guaranteed to all persons 5
under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection 6
Clause. 7
(2) Section 5 of the 14th Amendment empowers 8
Congress to enforce, by appropriate legislation, its 9
provisions. 10
(3) Article 1, section 8, clause 3 of the Con-11
stitution of the United States empowers Congress to 12
regulate commerce among the several States. 13
(4) The Supreme Court has repeatedly held 14
that ‘‘a citizen of one State who travels in other 15
States, intending to return home at the end of his 16
journey, is entitled to enjoy the ‘Privileges and Im-17
munities of Citizens in the several States’ that he 18
visits’’ (Saenz v. Roe, 526 U.S. 489, 501 (1999) 19
(citing Corfield v. Coryell, 6 F. Cas. 546 (No. 3,230) 20
(C.C.E.D.Pa.1823); Edwards v. California, 314 U.S. 21
160 (1941); United States v. Guest, 383 U.S. 745 22
(1966))). 23
(5) The Supreme Court long ago decided that 24
one of the privileges which the Constitution guaran-25
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tees to citizens of 1 State is the ‘‘fundamental’’ right 1
to travel to another State to seek and obtain services 2
lawful in that State, including medical services, on 3
terms of substantial equality with the citizens of 4
that State (Toomer v. Witsell, 334 U.S. 385, 396 5
(1948); Hicklin v. Orbeck, 437 U.S. 518, 525 6
(1978); Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 200 (1973) 7
(citing Ward v. Maryland, 79 U.S. 418 (1870)); 8
Chalker v. Birmingham & N.W.Ry. Co., 249 U.S. 9
522, 527 (1919); Shaffer v. Carter, 252 U.S. 37, 10
52, 53 (1920)). 11
(6) Since the 2022 Supreme Court decision in 12
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., 142 S. Ct. 13
2228 (2022), State legislatures have proposed and 14
enacted legislation attempting to interfere with the 15
ability to travel for reproductive health care. 16
SEC. 3. FREEDOM OF TRAVEL. 17
(a) PROHIBITED CONDUCT.—It shall be unlawful for 18
any person or government to— 19
(1) restrict or in any way sanction, hold liable, 20
discriminate against, or otherwise disadvantage any 21
individual from traveling to another State to receive 22
or provide reproductive health care that is legal in 23
that State; 24
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(2) restrict or in any way sanction, hold liable, 1
discriminate against, or otherwise disadvantage any 2
individual, entity, or organization from assisting an 3
individual in traveling to another State to receive or 4
provide reproductive health care that is legal in that 5
State; 6
(3) deny any right, benefit, or privilege to an 7
individual, entity, or organization as retaliation for 8
another person’s travel to another State to receive or 9
provide reproductive health care that is legal in that 10
State; or 11
(4) restrict or in any way sanction, hold liable, 12
discriminate against, or otherwise disadvantage a re-13
productive health care provider for providing, initi-14
ating, or otherwise enabling reproductive health care 15
services for an individual who does not reside in the 16
State wherein the provider offers health care services 17
if it would be legal for the health care provider to 18
provide, initiate, or otherwise enable the same repro-19
ductive health care services to an individual who re-20
sides in the State where the provider offers health 21
care services