Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) and Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) reintroduced the Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act to establish a grant program to help ease the financial burden of women and families being forced to travel, sometimes long distances, to access abortion care.  The reintroduction comes as abortion is now banned in 19 states and as threats to reproductive care continue to increase. 

“Women and families in Texas and states across our country that have banned abortion are in crisis,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “One way to help people and organizations respond to this crisis is to authorize grants to eligible entities to pay for travel-related expenses and logistical support for women seeking abortion care in states where it is legal.  I am glad to partner with Congresswoman Strickland in this effort to ensure that Americans can get the reproductive care they need no matter where they live.”

“In 2022, the Supreme Court ripped the promise of equitable access to reproductive medical care away from millions of Americans, and MAGA extremists have spent every day since then trying to enact a national abortion ban,” said Congresswoman Strickland.  “Access to safe and legal reproductive health care, including abortion, should be accessible to everyone, but care is too often out of reach for low-income families and women of color across the country.  The Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act fulfills our responsibility to guarantee reproductive freedom for all women regardless of where they live.”

If enacted, the Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act would help cover roundtrip travel to the location where the abortion is provided, lodging, meals, childcare, patient education, translational services, doula care, and lost wages.  Eligible entities under this program include abortion funds, practical support organizations, and other community-based organizations.

Congresswoman Fletcher is Vice Chair and Whip of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus.  She is the lead sponsor of the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which passed the House in 2022, and which she reintroduced this year. 

Last Congress, in response to a lawsuit seeking to ban medication abortion across the country, she introduced the Protecting Reproductive Freedom Act, H.R. 2573, with Congressman Pat Ryan (NY-18) to reaffirm that the abortion pill was appropriately approved by the FDA. 

To read the full text of the Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act, click here.