Last month, New Jersey lawmakers proposed the Reproductive Freedom Act, a bill that would allow abortion procedures to be performed throughout all nine months of pregnancy.
Created as a response to the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the bill calls abortion a “fundamental right,” mandates annual allocation of taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood under Title X in the state budget and permits non-physicians to perform abortions.
First-term Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy crafted the legislation with two fellow Democrats, New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle.
As expected, abortion advocates have put their full support behind the bill. Planned Parenthood Action has devoted a webpage to the bill, encouraging New Jerseyans to tell their legislators to pass the Reproductive Freedom Act. Meanwhile, ACLU New Jersey held an hour-long, multilingual Facebook Live event to promote the bill.
New Jersey Right to Life and Family Policy Alliance of New Jersey are among those speaking out against the Reproductive Freedom Act.
“Although the proposed legislation is sure to appease the abortion industry and a small minority of Governor Murphy’s pro-abortion supporters to shore up his base for his reelection,” Marie Tasy, New Jersey Right to Life director, said in an Oct. 2 statement, “this type of extreme measure is not supported by the majority of people in our state or across our nation who support life-protective laws and limits on abortion. That is surely why the majority party and governor will not seek voter approval on this type of measure, but instead seek to act in an autocratic manner to oppress the will of the people.”
On Nov. 11, leaders of several pro-life organizations and their supporters gathered outside the offices of Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Sen. Linda Greenstein, two of the bill’s primary sponsors, to show solidarity for the unborn as well as the health care workers who would be forced to participate in abortion if the bill were passed.
“Moms deserve better than risky abortions performed by non-physicians,” Shawn Hyland, director of advocacy for Family Policy Alliance of New Jersey, said. “Babies deserve better than painful third-trimester abortions. Medical workers deserve better than forcing them against their conscience and religious beliefs to participate in the abortion procedure. New Jersey, we must do better.”
SOURCE
