On Sunday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a TV advertising campaign to combat proposals in several Republican-controlled states to prohibit out-of-state travel for abortions and other reproductive care.
The multistate ad campaign and an online petition effort will start on Monday with a TV commercial about a proposal under consideration in Tennessee.
Newsom Launches Ad Campaign
The "abortion trafficking" bill backed by GOP state legislators would make it a felony offense for an adult to recruit, harbor, or transport a minor to get an abortion without parental consent.
Newsom told NBC's "Meet the Press" that similar restrictions based on a law already approved in Idaho are now being proposed in Oklahoma and Mississippi.
"The conditions are much more pernicious than they even appear," Newsom said. "These guys are not just restricting the rights, self-determination to bear a child for a young woman. But they're also determining their fate as it relates to their future in life by saying they can't even travel."
Supporters of the Tennessee bill claimed that it might make it illegal to drive a minor to get an abortion, as well as to provide information about local abortion services or which states have more lenient abortion regulations.
The plan was co-sponsored by Republican state representative Jason Zachary, who called it "simply a parental rights bill."
Anti-abortion advocates pushed states to outlaw the ban on abortion and find measures to block pregnant women and girls from traveling across state lines to obtain the procedure after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Idaho has already passed a so-called "abortion trafficking" law. The groundbreaking law made it unlawful to assist a minor seeking an abortion outside of the state or to purchase abortion drugs without the knowledge or approval of their parents.
Newsom, a Democrat widely seen as a potential presidential candidate, said a national political action committee will fund his RightToTravel.org initiative he established last spring using $10 million from his state campaign funds. He claimed that the initiative, known as the "Campaign for Democracy," aims to support conservative Republican policies and Democrats like Joe Biden.
Democrats and left-leaning interest groups backed abortion rights as a key driver for voters in the upcoming presidential election and combat for control of Congress.
The groups believe that when the argument expands to encompass growing concerns about in vitro fertilization treatments, drug access, miscarriage care, and access to emergency care, supporting access to abortion might be a winning issue. The Alabama Supreme Court's decision this week jeopardized future IVF access.
Woman Sues Texas Over Abortion Ban Plans
A woman who is suing Texas after being denied an abortion in the state is now preparing to transfer her frozen embryos in light of Alabama's decision about IVF procedures.
In a surprising decision this week, the Alabama Supreme Court defined frozen embryos as unborn children, forcing at least three facilities in the state to discontinue IVF services.
Amanda Zurawski told NBC News that she is trying to transfer her frozen embryos out of the state because she is afraid Texas will follow Alabama's ruling.
Zurawski nearly passed away after being denied an abortion in Texas. She stated that she did not want her frozen embryos in a state where a similar ruling could likely occur.
Furthermore, she added that everything about IVF is very anxiety-inducing, and it is very scary.
