[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4922 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4922
To authorize grants to eligible entities to pay for travel-related
expenses and practical support for individuals with respect to
accessing abortion services, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2026
Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Padilla, Ms. Hirono, Mr.
Blumenthal, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize grants to eligible entities to pay for travel-related
expenses and practical support for individuals with respect to
accessing abortion services, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Reproductive Health Travel Fund Act
of 2026''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) On June 24, 2022, in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson
Women's Health Organization (142 S. Ct. 2228 (2022)) (referred
to in this section as the ``Dobbs decision''), the Supreme
Court overturned Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)), reversing
decades of precedent and eliminating the constitutional right
to abortion.
(2) Almost overnight, the Dobbs decision decimated the
abortion access landscape for millions of people in the United
States. Since the Dobbs decision, 13 States have effectively
banned abortion and many more have severe restrictions in place
that make care inaccessible.
(3) Because of severe restrictions and bans on abortion,
dozens of clinics have been forced to close or stop providing
abortions. Thousands of people are forced to travel farther
away from their homes, communities, and support networks, at
great risk to their health and well-being. Others are not able
to get an abortion at all and have been forced to stay pregnant
against their will.
(4) The amount of time and distance abortion seekers must
travel is increasing and becoming more difficult to overcome.
Before the Dobbs decision, less than 1 percent of the United
States population was more than 200 miles from a health care
provider, and the average person was only 25 miles from a
provider. After the Dobbs decision, 14 percent of the United
States population is more than 200 miles from the nearest
abortion provider, and the average person is 86 miles from a
provider.
(5) In 2025, 142,000 people traveled across State lines to
obtain an abortion. This includes 62,000 people living in
States with total bans, more than double the number who
traveled from these States prior to the Dobbs decision. Because
of the concentration of bans in the Southeast and Midwest, many
people are traveling across multiple State lines, requiring
hundreds of miles of travel each way.
(6) The consequences of the Dobbs decision fall hardest on
people who already face the most barriers to health care due to
systemic barriers and discrimination, including Black people,
Indigenous people, people of color, people with disabilities,
people in rural areas, young people, people who are immigrants
or undocumented, LGBTQ+ people, people who are parenting,
people with complex medical needs who require hospital-based
care, and people having difficulty making ends meet.
(7) Longer travel times, combined with other immense
barriers, increase the cost of transportation, food, lodging,
and childcare, and increase the amount of lost wages. These
barriers can also push abortion care later into pregnancy,
increasing the cost of care. This heightened cost pushes
abortion care out of reach for many people without financial
and practical assistance.
(8) The harm of being denied a wanted abortion is well
researched and established. Being denied a wanted abortion
means those individuals are more likely to experience poverty,
have worse health outcomes, and are more likely to remain in
abusive relationships.
(9) Even before the Dobbs decision, abortion was extremely
difficult to access because of medically unnecessary bans and
restrictions, including arbitrary limits on when someone can
get an abortion, how abortions can be provided, and bans on
insurance coverage for abortions like the Hyde Amendment, among
many others.
(10) Abortion funds and practical support organizations (in
this section referred to as ``abortion funds'') exist for this
reason. Abortion funds are community-based organizations that
directly support people seeking abortions. They provide a wide
range of support, including funding for abortions and practical
support such as transportation, food, lodging, childcare,
translation services, doula services, and more. Abortion funds
collaborate at the local, regional, national, and international
levels to support people seeking abortions. Many abortion funds
are led by people who have had abortions themselves and
understand the complex circumstances abortion seekers face,
including a growing number of Black and Brown leaders.
(11) Since the Dobbs decision, as tens of thousands more
abortion seekers are being forced to travel across State lines
for their abortions each year, the cost of supporting abortion
seekers has more than doubled. On average, abortion funds
provide nearly $400 for each abortion seeker, with many
abortion funds having to pool resources to get people the care
they need.
(12) Abortion funds are navigating an increasingly hostile
landscape that is causing the costs of care to rise. Since the
Dobbs decision, abortion funds have doubled the number of
abortion seekers they support. In 2025 alone, abortion funds
provided over $63,000,000 in funding for abortions, over
$14,000,000 of that was for practical support.
(13) Despite the efforts of abortion funds, thousands of
people are still unable to get the resources they need to have
their abortions. According to the National Network of Abortion
Funds, in 2025, nearly one-third of the abortion funds in their
network reported they have been forced to temporarily close,
sometimes repeatedly, and were unable to meet the needs of
large numbers of callers because of a lack of funding, legal
shifts, staff capacity, burnout, and security concerns.
(14) Abortion funds have been severely underresourced and
underinvested in, despite being uniquely positioned to support
abortion seekers, as they have been doing for decades. Many
rely on volunteer time and individual donations to support
abortion seekers and their communities.
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO PAY FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES AND PRACTICAL SUPPORT FOR
INDIVIDUALS ACCESSING ABORTION SERVICES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this
section as the ``Secretary'') may award grants to eligible entities to
pay for travel-related expenses and practical support for individuals
with respect to accessing abortion services.
(b) Timing.--Beginning not later than 30 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall solicit applications for
grants under this section.
(c) Use of Funds.--
(1) Permissible uses.--An eligible entity receiving a grant
under this section shall use the grant for travel-related
expenses and practical support for individuals with respect to
accessing abortion services, which may include any of the
following expenses and support:
(A) Round trip travel to the location where the
abortion services are provided.
(B) Lodging.
(C) Meals.
(D) Childcare.
(E) Translation services.
(F) Doula care.
(G) Patient education and information services.
(H) Lost wages.
(2) Organizational costs.--An eligible entity receiving a
grant under this section may use up to, but not more than, 15
percent of the grant funds to cover organizational costs such
as--
(A) community outreach efforts;
(B) physical infrastructure construction and
maintenance;
(C) website development and maintenance; and
(D) increasing staff capacity and training.
(3) Impermissible uses.--An eligible entity receiving a
grant under this section shall not use the grant for costs of
an abortion procedure.
(d) Applications.--To seek a grant under this section, an eligible
entity shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary
determines appropriate.
(e) Priority.--In selecting the recipients of grants under this
section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that--
(1) serve individuals who live in a jurisdiction that has
banned or severely restricted access to abortion;
(2) serve individuals who travel to a jurisdiction other
than the one where they live to receive abortion services; or
(3) have a program in operation, or submit as part of the
application required under subsection (d) a plan to establish
and operate a program, to help individuals access abortion
services.
(f) Annual Reports to Congress.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary
shall submit to Congress a report on the program under this
section.
(2) Confidentiality.--The reports under paragraph (1) shall
not include any individually identifiable information.
(g) Preemption.--
(1) In general.--The provisions of this section shall
supersede any provision of State, Tribal, territorial, or local
law that would have the effect of prohibiting any use of funds
provided for under this section.
(2) Prohibition on federal cooperation in antiabortion
proceedings.--No Federal agency or official engaged in carrying
out the program under this section may cooperate with any
State, Tribal, territorial, or local antiabortion proceeding,
including any antiabortion investigation, prosecution, or civil
lawsuit, relating to the activities carried out under such
program or any individual or entity receiving or providing
services under such program.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``eligible entity''--
(A) means a nonprofit organization, or a community-
based organization, that assists individuals seeking an
abortion through programs, services, or activities that
are unbiased and medically and factually accurate; and
(B) excludes any entity that discourages
individuals from seeking an abortion.
(2) The term ``nonprofit organization'' means an
organization that--
(A) is described in subsection (c)(3) of section
501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
(B) is, under subsection (a) of such section,
exempt from taxation.
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there is authorized to be appropriated $350,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2027 through 2031.
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