Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at his gubernatorial campaign’s primary night watch party in San Francisco, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

If you live in either a red or purple state, chances are it’s been subjected to state-funded travel bans from solidly blue states like New York or California.

Oftentimes these bans are in response to actions taken by state legislatures who are trying to ensure religious freedoms and/or the rights of women and children (including the unborn) are not infringed upon by militant left wing groups who are paid big bucks to sue businesses and states into oblivion for failure to comply with their radical agendas.

Such is the case for Iowa, which was added to California’s travel ban list earlier this month by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra:

California announced last week that it has added Iowa to the list of states on its ever-expanding “travel ban” list because of that state’s new prohibition against funding gender-transition surgeries under Medicaid.



The announcement by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra means that as of Oct. 4, California will no longer offer taxpayer-funded trips to Iowa for any public employee or student at a state-run university.



Becerra’s authority came from a 2016 California law signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown that bars state-funded travel to other states that undercut LGBT rights. The blacklist already included Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds responded appropriately to the news:

Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday countered California’s announced ban on taxpayer-funded trips to Iowa by touting the state’s “nice” image as a welcoming place and urging disenchanted California businesses and residents to consider relocating to the Midwest.

[…]

Asked Wednesday about California’s planned travel ban, Reynolds said: “I think the Iowa story is my response. We are knocking it out of the park when it comes to a pro-growth, pro-business environment with opportunities.”



By contrast, she said, California is “heading in the wrong direction” with businesses “fleeing” a climate of rising taxes, “skyrocketing” costs to live and do business, and the “highest homeless population” in the nation.



“They’ve got a lot of issues going on in California,” Reynolds said.

Iowa is the 11th state to be added to California’s travel ban.

Perhaps the best take on the ban outside of Sen. Ted Cruz’s comes from the Babylon Bee, which quipped that other states were “begging” to be added to California’s travel ban list:

While just eleven states are currently on the list, dozens more are applying. Soon, almost every state except Oregon and New York will be on the list, and peace and utopia will break out across the nation as CA politicians will no longer be able to go there and say weird things and do even dumber things.



The states were disappointed to learn that the ban didn’t include all Californians, but they said banning just the politicians was a good start, since they’re the ones who ruined the state to begin with.

All The Other States Beg California To Add Them To Travel Banhttps://t.co/G4XcvGsx29 — The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) September 17, 2019

*Chef’s kiss.*

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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –