New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation Tuesday that will create a website meant to be a “one-stop shop for reproductive health care information.” During the signing ceremony, Murphy made it clear that the site is yet another attempt to make the state more abortion-friendly. The New Jersey Monitor notes that the state budget he signed in June will also allocate “$5 million for security upgrades for reproductive health care facilities and $5 million for the state to recruit and train more reproductive health care professionals” — meaning medical providers willing to commit abortions.
“New Jersey is and always will be a safe haven for reproductive health care, period,” he said. “At a moment when far-right extremists are waging war on reproductive health care freedoms, it has never been more important for our citizens to be armed with the facts they need to make informed decisions about their health and their future.”
On hand for the signing was Sarah Fajardo, the policy director for ACLU-NJ, who hailed the site’s creation as a way for women to get “accurate information.”
“As these devastating attacks on our rights continue to unfold, ensuring all New Jerseyans have access to accurate information and resources related to reproductive rights and health is paramount,” she said. However, though the site is touted as a way to help women make informed decisions, notably missing is any information helping a woman who wants assistance in continuing her pregnancy or help finding an alternative, like adoption. Nor is there any information on pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), which offer women life-affirming help like prenatal counseling, baby supplies, formula and diapers, and much more.
Despite the help offered, New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer is engaging in a slander tour against pregnancy resource centers, calling them “brainwashing cult clinics” and calling for their closure. One of the PRCs targeted has responded by stating that had the congressman reached out or visited one of their facilities, they would have been happy to “meet with [him] and educate him on the work we do… To our knowledge, he has never visited any Lighthouse facility to learn about the services we offer to those facing unexpected pregnancies and to under-served parents.”
Though the life-affirming options of PRCs are the kind of information many pregnant women are looking for, the New Jersey website will offer them just one option: abortion. According to the New Jersey Monitor, the website will contain information on abortion “rights,” insurance requirements for abortion access, the locations of abortionists, and “information on how to file a complaint for harassment or intimidation while trying to obtain an abortion,” which appears to be aimed at the First Amendment rights of pro-life sidewalk counselors instead of informing women about how they cannot be forced into an abortion by a partner or a family member.
Similar pro-abortion websites have been launched elsewhere, in states like Pennsylvania and California.
Marie Tasy, Executive Director of New Jersey Right to Life, decried her state’s extreme pro-abortion efforts in an interview last week.
“Governor Murphy is truly obsessed with abortion,” she told Catholic World Report. “Not only has he provided over $164 million in taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood, he promotes abortion every chance he gets.”
