The New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee approved a measure to establish a system for informing travelers to other states about reproductive service limitations.
S-3663 would mandate the New Jersey Department of State to establish the Reproductive Health Travel Advisory. The information would include gestational duration bans, required waiting periods, prohibitions on insurance coverage, restrictions on medication abortion, constitutional protections, the availability of abortion funding, and criminal and civil liabilities for patients and healthcare providers.
Proponents of the measure cited reports of “horrible situations” in South Carolina and Georgia. Spokespeople for South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp did not respond to requests for comment.
In Georgia this week, the state’s Supreme Court reinstated the state’s ban on abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, effectively banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. The ban remains in place while an appeal proceeds.
The move followed a Fulton County Superior Court judge’s ruling that abortion clinics could perform abortions beyond the earliest weeks of pregnancy, prompting Attorney General Chris Carr to appeal.
In South Carolina, in August 2023, the state’s Supreme Court declared the state’s Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act was constitutional, striking down a preliminary injunction that barred the law from taking effect. The law restricts abortions in the state once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
In May, a state judge ruled the state could proceed with its ban while an appeal on the definition of a heartbeat under the law proceeds, the Associated Press reported.
The New Jersey legislation committee voted 5-3 to pass the bill.
A proposed New Jersey travel advisory would be published on the Department of State’s website in a prominent location and be updated to reflect changes in the laws, regulations and policies of the respective states. According to proponents, the advisory would include color-coded information based on the severity of restrictions in each state:
- Blue: Exercise normal caution: People have access to all forms of reproductive medical care without fear of civil or criminal prosecution.
- Yellow: Exercise increased caution: Restricted access to reproductive medical care that could result in civil or criminal prosecution.
- Red: Reconsider travel: Extremely restricted access to reproductive care that could result in an adverse medical outcome.