Interstate Travel for Care
The legal distinction between a state regulating medical care inside its borders and trying to prevent residents from traveling to another state for lawful care.
The general right to interstate travel
The Supreme Court has long recognized constitutional protection for interstate travel. That protection includes the ability of citizens to enter and leave another state.
Dobbs did not decide every travel question
Dobbs addressed whether the Constitution itself protects abortion. It did not resolve every possible dispute involving interstate travel, assistance to travelers, or conflicts between state laws.
Justice Kavanaugh’s concurrence
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote separately that, in his view, a state could not bar a resident from traveling to another state to obtain an abortion that is lawful there because of the constitutional right to interstate travel.