Amid heated debate, bills advance to protect patients who travel to New Jersey for abortions
An Assembly committee moved forward Monday with two bills that would protect people who come to New Jersey to seek abortions and health care that is illegal in other states.
“As we continue to advocate for women’s right and equality, presenting [a] package of reproductive care bills for consideration, organizations like Human Rights Watch, World Health Organization emphasizes that reproductive rights are fundamental,” said Assemblywoman Tennille McCoy, a Hamilton Democrat.
The legislation A1970 would enter New Jersey into the Women’s Reproductive Health Care Compact, allowing the state to work with other states to better protect abortion access and shield those seeking healthcare from out-of-state investigation.
The measure generated fierce debate during the hearing.
Marie Tasy, the current executive director for New Jersey’s Right to Life, testified against the proposal. “This bill now seeks to enter New Jersey into a compact that will spread these harmful and misleading provisions onto other states, districts or territories, and women and girls will suffer the consequences,” said Tasy.
Donna Hart also testified in opposition: “These bills facilitate the murder of a child in its most vulnerable stage of development,” Hart said.
Despite opposition, the committee moved the bill on a 6-1 vote, with Assemblyman Don Guardian abstaining. The Atlantic City Republican explained that he did not want to vote against the bill, yet found it redundant as laws protecting abortion in New Jersey already exist.
In 2024, about 3,120 patients traveled to New Jersey for abortions, representing approximately 5% of all abortions in the state, according to an October report produced by members of the Rutgers University School of Public Health.
Another measure, A4532, sponsored by Raritan Democratic Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis, would prohibit the sharing of automated license plate reader information for interstate investigation of individuals coming to New Jersey for health care banned in other states.
Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said the technology could also be applied to travelers seeking care other than abortion, such as gender-affirming care.
“The hundreds of people traveling to New Jersey every month to receive abortion care should not have to worry if their license plate information will be tracked in New Jersey and then used to criminalize them in their home state,” Wojtowicz said.
The committee moved the bill on a 7-1 vote along partisan lines.
Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, a Franklin Township Democrat, said, “I am here to support women and their choices, and I pray to God that they make the right choice– and in some scenarios, many, many scenarios– there’s no comfortable choice. There’s no best scenario. But a woman must be protected in her process of making a choice.”
Both bills now advance to the Assembly for a floor vote.
This article is written by Katherine Burgos, courtesy of the NJ State House News Service
