(Reuters) -The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation to safeguard the right to travel across state lines to seek an abortion after several states banned the procedure in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court ruling.
The Democratic-controlled House voted 223 to 205, largely along party lines, to prevent states that have limited abortion from obstructing women’s ability to seek care elsewhere.
The bill faces long odds in the Senate, where Republicans blocked similar legislation on Thursday.
Roughly a dozen Republican-led states have moved to ban nearly all abortions since late June, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion rights nationwide since 1973, and more states are expected to do so.
Some Republicans in those states have tried to go further. Missouri legislators considered a bill that would allow civil lawsuits against anyone who aids a woman in seeking an out-of-state abortion.
The issue received national attention after media outlets reported that a 10-year-old girl who was raped in Ohio had to travel to Indiana to obtain an abortion.
(Reporting by Rose Horowtich; editing by Andy Sullivan and Jonathan Oatis)
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