ST. LOUIS – Congresswoman Cori Bush has co-sponsored a bill in Congress to provide federal grants to women who travel long distances to receive reproductive health care.

Nearly one year to date since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Missouri and 13 other states have banned abortions.

Bush’s bill, called the Protect Sexual and Reproductive Health Act, would help women travel to other states where the procedure is still legal, including neighboring state Illinois.

Bush says the bill consists of the following goals:

Establish a new office to oversee activities that promote sexual and reproductive health and well-being within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS);

Develop a national strategy to increase access to and awareness of sexual and reproductive health and well-being;

Create an interagency task force comprised of all 15 federal agencies to coordinate on the development and implementation of the national strategy on sexual and reproductive health and well-being, and;

Establish a $2.5 billion reproductive health justice and equity grant program for community-based organizations to support programs and services related to improving sexual and reproductive health care.

Meanwhile, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey hosted a donation drive with other attorneys general to support more than 60 pregnancy centers across the U.S. Missouri has more than 125 of these support centers for women and their babies.