Cantwell Warns of 'Chilling Effect' of Idaho's Criminal Penalties for Abortion

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined several Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor to speak in support of the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act. During her floor remarks, Sen. Cantwell emphasized the need to protect providers in pro-choice states like Washington from being prosecuted for providing care to patients traveling from bordering anti-choice states. In March, Idaho's governor signed a bill modeled after Texas's SB8, which allows private citizens to sue doctors for providing abortion care services.

Sen. Cantwell posed this question to one of the authors of the bill, Sen. Cortez Masto (D-NV): "What is happening now with the chilling effect to providers and their anxiety over people pursuing them for seeing patients from states in which Roe v. Wade is not fully protected?"

Responded Sen. Cortez Masto: "What I hear from my providers is that, "we want to help women, we want them to come to our state, but if their state is going to pursue legislation or criminalize, or penalize, or prosecute us, or a private citizen can come after us from that state -- then we're having second thoughts about this,' because they do not want to be embroiled in some sort of litigation."

Sen. Cantwell continued, "We were joined by the American Medical Association who also expressed this concern. They are speaking on behalf of the providers that want to provide reproductive choice in states that have passed this law and they are concerned. We need to get this legislation passed."

Earlier this week, Sen. Cantwell joined 33 of her Democratic Senate colleagues in introducing the Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022. The legislation clarifies that it is illegal for anti-choice states to penalize or prosecute providers offering services in states where reproductive health care is legal, or limit travel for patients to receive abortion services in these states. The bill would empower the U.S. Attorney General or the impacted individuals to bring civil action against those who restrict an individual's right to cross state lines to receive legal reproductive care.

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