January 13, 2022

New Jersey to Legalize Abortion until Birth

NJ Gov. Phil Murphy (D)
On Jan 10, legislators in New Jersey passed a bill that codifies a right to abortion into state law. The bill not only creates a right to abortion, it expands abortion to the point that it will be legal for any reason up until birth. This means that it will be completely legal to abort a child that can viably survive outside of the mother's womb.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that he plans to sign the bill. In a tweet he wrote, “A bill to codify a woman’s right to choose into state law and expand access to reproductive health care for all just passed both houses of the Legislature. I will sign this bill into law this week. With Roe v. Wade under attack, the need for this bill is more urgent than ever.”

New Jersey Right to Life brought up additional criticisms of the bill. It will prevent the passage of pro-life legislation, and it is written broadly enough that it could allow many things that are not explicitly described by the text. As an example, some pro-life advocates are worried that language in the bill could be used to force health insurance companies to provide coverage for abortions.