1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

(New section) The Legislature finds and declares that: a. All citizens of this State, and those who travel to this State for health care services, deserve the ability to safely access health care facilities in this State and the critical reproductive health and gender- affirming care services that they provide. b. Since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, 21 states and counting have banned or severely restricted access to abortion. In response to that decision, picketing at reproductive health care facilities increased by 21 percent and obstructions to these facilities increased by 538 percent nationwide. In New Jersey, there has been an approximately 30 percent increase in out-of-state patients, many of whom came to New Jersey because reproductive health care services are illegal in their home state. c. In 2023, there were 23 reported violent incidents and threats made to health care facilities providing gender-affirming health care. Fourteen states, including New Jersey, offer protections to people who provide, seek, or assist those seeking gender-affirming health care. People seeking and providing this care deserve to be safe and protected. d. In 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court in LePage v. Mobile Infirmary Clinic, P.C. (Docket No. SC-2022-0515, SC-2022-0579) ruled that embryos are “extrauterine children,” finding that that the state’s “‘Wrongful Death of A Minor Act’ applies on its face to all unborn children, without limitation. ” The holding, and the legal analysis on which the decision was based, could impact any person in a state which recognizes the individual rights of fetuses created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and any person who is seeking or providing IVF. e. New Jersey has long been a state that supports, and provides protections for the reproductive freedoms and health care choices of its citizens, including the right to make the choice of whether to start or expand a family through in vitro fertilization (IVF). f. New Jersey, through this act, will codify critical protections to those seeking and providing reproductive and gender-affirming health care. Further, this act is intended to ensure that anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ persons cannot harm patients or providers.