New Jersey Now Allows Abortion for Any Reason Up Until Birth
Last week, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a piece of legislation that drastically expands access to abortion in the state and endangers women’s health. The bill—now law—expands abortion access in three devastating ways.
First, the bill codifies a radical “right” to abortion, which allows abortion for any reason up until birth.
Second, the bill takes the additional step of blocking future passage of commonsense and medically appropriate abortion regulations. These include historically popular and bipartisan measures like parental notification and prohibitions on late-term abortions.
And finally, the bill further expands taxpayer funding of abortion, forcing New Jersey citizens to be complicit in paying for even more abortions in their state.
This dangerous legislation is another brazen attempt by the abortion industry to push its extreme agenda at the expense of unborn babies and their mothers.
Let’s not forget that last September, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives passed the so-called “Women’s Health Protection Act,” which similarly seeks to guarantee unrestricted and unregulated access to abortion nationwide. And in October, Illinois repealed its longstanding parental notification requirement for minors seeking abortion, despite polling showing 72% of Illinoisans supported the policy.
Unfortunately, this kind of extreme legislation is not unexpected: Roe v. Wade paved the way for it. But last month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that gives the Court the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade by deciding whether a Mississippi law protecting the unborn by limiting abortion after 15 weeks is constitutional. If Roe is overturned, states would be free to enact abortion laws based on growing medical evidence of how abortion harms women and the humanity of unborn children, as well as reflecting the life-affirming values of their citizens.
This means that several states would likely begin enacting lifesaving protections for women and the unborn that they have been prevented from adopting for nearly 50 years—and the abortion industry is panicking. Extreme new laws like New Jersey’s demonstrate this.
It’s likely we’ll see legislation similar to New Jersey’s introduced in some state legislatures around the country this year. But, while these attacks on life can be disheartening, they will not go unanswered. Alliance Defending Freedom will continue to stand up for life in the legislatures to help ensure that policies that truly support women and protect life are enacted.
Learn more about how ADF is protecting life and how you can get involved.