New Jersey Enacts Shield Law for Trans Health Care and Abortion
The measure blocks state cooperation with out-of-state investigations and strengthens protections for patients and providers.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill has signed a “shield law” protecting people who seek reproductive and transgender health care. The law also bars state officials from assisting with out-of-state investigations of those who travel to New Jersey for such care.
The bill passed the New Jersey General Assembly and State Senate on party-line votes in June. It prohibits state officials from extraditing people who are under investigation in other states for accessing or allowing their children to access abortion-related or transgender-related health services.
The law also limits court-issued search warrants, wiretaps, and the use of bounty hunters in out-of-state investigations of care that is legal in the Garden State.
Patients seeking reproductive or transgender health care receive expanded confidentiality protections that prevent providers from sharing information about their diagnoses or treatments. Doctors and other medical providers are also protected from discipline by state licensing boards for treating those patients.
The measure took effect immediately upon being signed. It allows the attorney general or county or municipal prosecutors to charge anyone who physically blocks access to facilities providing reproductive or gender-affirming care, or intentionally intimidates people seeking treatment at those facilities.
Violators could face 18 months to five years in prison if their efforts to block access result in bodily harm. Those harmed could also file civil lawsuits seeking up to $1,000 per violation, plus attorney’s fees and additional damages. In cases brought by state or local prosecutors, violators could face fines of up to $10,000 for a first offense and $25,000 for subsequent offenses.
“If Greg Abbott or Ron DeSantis tries to investigate someone who came to New Jersey to access care, we will protect anyone seeking care that is legal here in New Jersey from investigations in other states,” Sherrill said in a statement, referring to the Republican governors of Texas and Florida, respectively. Both have pushed restrictions on abortion access and gender-affirming care for minors. DeSantis has also restricted care for transgender adults, including those covered by Medicaid.
“This isn’t just about abortion,” Sherrill added. “Republicans in Washington are trying to control people’s lives. That’s why the White House has relentlessly attacked our transgender community as well. They’ve pulled tactics straight out of the Red Scare playbook to restrict transgender people’s health care.”
Abortion rights opponents decried the bill’s enactment. Marie Tsay, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, said she worried that the criminal intimidation charge could be used to silence abortion opponents, even though it requires intent and the threat or use of force, the New Jersey Monitor reported.
Meanwhile, abortion rights and LGBTQ advocates celebrated the law’s enactment following a nearly three-year campaign by a coalition that included the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey and Garden State Equality.
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