NJ's Expansion Of Abortion Care Moves Forward In Wake Of Roe Reversal

TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey moved a step closer to expanding access to abortion care, putting forth grant funding to help expand the pool of providers. The $5 million in available grants will support reproductive-health training and education for all practicing professionals eligible to provide the service.

In October 2021, the State Board of Medical Examiners voted unanimously to eliminate certain restrictions on abortion care. The new rules cleared the path for advanced-practice nurses, physician assistants and certified midwives to perform early-aspiration terminations — the most common abortion method during a pregnancy's first trimester.

The move came amid a frenzy of abortion restrictions in different states and months before the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last June to overturn the constitutional right to abortion care, which stood for 49 years.

The $5 million in funding helps create and implement the "New Jersey Reproductive Training and Education Initiative." Rutgers University made the funds available last week through a non-competitive grant that the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs will administer. The grant period will run from this January through the end of 2025.

"Expanding the pool of health care professionals trained to provide abortion care is essential to ensuring that New Jersey residents and those from other states have access to the health services they need," said Cari Fais, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. "This funding opportunity will allow for a significant workforce expansion of abortion providers and enhance New Jersey’s ability to meet the increased demand for abortion and reproductive health services."

The Supreme Court ruled June 24 in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case that the U.S. Constitution doesn't confer a right to abortion. During the runup to the decision and the months since, the Murphy administration has sought to ensure the right in the state while making New Jersey a haven for out-of-state residents who no longer have the right to an abortion where they live.

Here's where things stand in New Jersey:

New Jersey codified abortion's legality in January after the passage of the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act. While reproductive-rights advocates called the bill an important step, they said it didn't go far enough, arguing that out-of-pocket costs maintain barriers for accessing abortions even in states where the procedure is codified into law.

A week after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, New Jersey strengthened protections for out-of-staters who seek abortions in the Garden State and those who provide or help them access the care. Of the two measures Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law July 1, one prohibits law enforcement and public employees from cooperating with out-of-state investigations seeking to hold someone liable for seeking, receiving, facilitating or providing reproductive-health services in New Jersey.

Additionally, the new law prohibits state licensing boards from suspending, revoking or refusing to renew the license or registration of a professional based solely on their involvement in the provision of abortions or other reproductive care. The second law prevents extradition to other states for receiving, providing or facilitating reproductive care in New Jersey.

But some legislative efforts to protect and expand abortion access have failed to pass. One measure that would require New Jersey health-insurance plans to fully cover abortions, while appropriating $20 million toward a Reproductive Health Access Fund, remains stalled in the State Legislature.

Murphy proposed a similar measure May 11 in the wake of the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion on Roe. But it hasn't seen clear enthusiasm among lawmakers, despite Democrats holding majorities in both chambers of the State Legislature. See the bills in the State Senate and Assembly.

Additionally, a campaign to launch a constitutional amendment for abortion rights in New Jersey has been put on ice, at least temporarily. Democratic lawmakers previously planned to try and get a ballot question approved for next year's general election that could have enshrined the right to abortion care into the state's Consitution. But the campaign came off the table last month, partially at the request of reproductive-health advocacy groups.

"A ballot measure would require an investment of tens of millions of dollars," said Jackie Cornell, executive director at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey. "Because the governor and Legislature have taken action this year, we believe a better approach now is investing those dollars instead in providing health care services."

Six states put forward ballot measures this year addressing abortion — the record for a single year. Voters in California, Michigan and Vermont approved measures establishing the state-constitutional right to abortion. Residents in three red states — Kansas, Kentucky and Montana — rejected measures that paved the way for restrict the procedure in their states.