Source: NorthJersey.com
New Jersey now has a one-stop shop for reproductive health care information.
“New Jersey is and always will be a safe haven for reproductive health care, period,” New Jersey governor Phil Murphy 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.”
The site includes information on what reproductive rights are legally protected and about health benefits coverage for reproductive health care services. That includes medical, surgical, counseling or referral services relating to pregnancy, contraception or termination of a pregnancy.
The site provides information about rights afforded under state law for access to:
· emergency reproductive health care services.
· contraception, including, but not limited to, condoms, diaphragms, spermicides, contraceptive vaginal rings, transdermal contraceptive patches, contraceptive hormonal injections, hormonal contraceptive pills, uterine implants, intrauterine devices and surgical and non-surgical sterilization.
· self-determination concerning the use of contraception, and the right under state law to refuse sterilization.
· prescription and non-prescription medications for reproductive health care.
· carrying a pregnancy to term and the right to terminate a pregnancy, as well as to access services related to childbirth and abortion care.
· preventive reproductive health care services.
· reproductive health care services regardless of insurance status
· appropriate internet websites and other resources that can provide assistance in enrolling individuals without insurance or who are underinsured in a health benefits plan
· applying for medical assistance under the Medicaid or NJ FamilyCare programs.
· a resource page, or a link to a resource website, where patients can find current, verified reproductive health care providers, including abortion care providers.
· information on where and how to file a complaint in the event that an individual’s reproductive rights are violated.
Measures have been taken throughout the country to codify protections, but New Jersey legislators have taken it even further by prohibiting people who receive or perform an abortion in New Jersey from being extradited to a state that restricts or criminalizes the procedure and even barring public agencies in New Jersey from providing information to help in investigations by states that criminalize abortion.
The state has also expanded access by requiring companies regulated by the state’s Department of Banking and Insurance to provide comprehensive abortion coverage as a part of all health benefit plans and making birth control available over the counter.