New Jersey bolsters protections for gender-affirming care and abortion rights

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation on Aug. 20 to shore up protections for gender-affirming care and abortion rights, making the Garden State the latest state to further safeguard reproductive and trans care in the face of threats from the federal government. The legislation protects both patients and providers from out-of-state legal proceedings related to gender-affirming care and abortion rights and aims to ban any interference to such care within the state. The legislation directly intertwines reproductive care and gender-affirming care by adding gender-affirming care to the definition of protected reproductive healthcare services. The law bars the disclosure of patient information without prior authorization, restricts state agencies from cooperating with certain investigations from other states, and stops licensing boards from punishing a provider for delivering reproductive care. The law also makes it a crime to injure, threaten, intimidate, or block patients or providers from reproductive care, and it further bans individuals from damaging property to hinder reproductive healthcare services. The legislative push comes more than a year after the Trump administration first started targeting gender-affirming care — especially among youth — through executive orders, proposed rules, and other attempts to limit access to such care. “We have seen attacks from the Trump Administration and other states on access to reproductive and gender affirming healthcare, and attempts to impose restrictions across state borders," Sherrill said in a written statement. "Here in New Jersey, we are standing firm in defense of reproductive freedoms — including the right to choose and the right to receive gender-affirming care. No one should fear intimidation or violence for seeking healthcare, and no healthcare professional should fear punishment from another state for providing care that is legal in New Jersey. With this legislation, we are making clear that New Jersey will protect patients, providers, and the fundamental freedom to make personal healthcare decisions.” A collection of organizations known as the Transgender Rights Coalition of New Jersey — including Garden State Equality, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey, and others — praised the new law after spending more than two years of advocating for it. “As a healthcare provider and as a parent of a transgender child, I know that the care this law protects is safe, evidence based, and can mean the difference between a childhood spent thriving and one spent in distress,” Natalie Baker a co-founder and steering committee member of the Transgender Rights Coalition of New Jersey, said in a written statement. “Today, New Jersey makes clear that medical decisions stay where they belong: with patients, families and doctors. My fellow providers, my patients, and my family can all breathe a little easier.” New Jersey's law comes eight months after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a similar law last December. New York's so-called "Shield Law 2.0" restricts subpoenas and probes of protected care in New York State, requires New York-based health providers and individuals to inform the attorney general about any requests for protected health information within five days, and bans private hospitals, clinics, and others from cooperating with those investigations.