Where New Jersey actually stands
We would rather say that plainly than run an empty bill tracker. No bill of abolition, and no equal-protection bill, has been introduced in the New Jersey Legislature. Not one that stalled in committee, and not one that failed on the floor. There is nothing to list.
New Jersey moved in the opposite direction. In January 2022 the Legislature passed the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act (S49 / A6260), writing abortion access into statute rather than restricting it. That is the ground this state actually stands on, and pretending otherwise helps no one.
The Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act establishes a statutory right to abortion in New Jersey. It passed 23-15-2 in the Senate and 45-24-9-2 in the Assembly on January 10, 2022, and was signed the same month.
Because it is statute rather than a court ruling, it can be amended or repealed by the same body that passed it. That is the whole reason a legislature is worth talking to — and the reason a directory of who represents you is more use here than a scorecard of votes that were never taken.
Of the 120 members serving today, 72 were present for that vote and 23 of them voted against it. See how your own representatives voted →
Not every bill described as pro-life is a bill of abolition. Most regulate abortion; a bill of abolition ends it, by extending to the preborn the protection the law already gives everyone else. Five things distinguish the two.
1. Outlaws abortion from the moment of fertilization
2. Contains no exceptions
3. Criminalizes abortion itself and establishes equal justice
4. Does not submit to unconstitutional court rulings
5. Repeals or supersedes every statute that permits abortion
What each of these means, in full →
A bill arrives when there are enough people who want one to make it worth a legislator's while. That work is upstream of the legislature: churches persuaded, neighbors convinced, representatives asked plainly where they stand and held to the answer.
Read why equal protection means criminalization · The Norman Statement · Sign the petition
