NIRH Hails Passage of Legislation in Maine and New Jersey Expanding and Protecting Abortion Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2019
Contact: Marisa Rodriguez, [email protected]

Applauds Maine Governor Janet Mills for Enacting; Calls on New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy to Sign Immediately

New York – Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH), today released the following statement hailing passage of legislation expanding and protecting abortion access in Maine and New Jersey, applauding Maine’s governor for signing the state’s legislation into law, and calling on the New Jersey governor to sign his state’s bill immediately.

In Maine, L.D. 1261, which was signed by Governor Mills, allows qualified health care providers to offer abortion care in accordance with their scope of practice. In New Jersey, S1761 passed the State Senate with a vote of 75-0 and Assembly with a vote of 37-0 and would establish confidentiality for medical providers who offer abortion care amid a disturbing rise in violent threats against both providers and staff. The passage of each of these bills comes as states step up their efforts to pass proactive legislation protecting and expanding abortion access, and follows proactive policy momentum in Illinois Nevada, and Wisconsin.

“The Maine and New Jersey legislatures have shown great leadership in taking critical steps to expand abortion access and to protect abortion providers and patients,” said Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health.

“As the federal government emboldens state attacks on abortion access, Maine’s bill recognizes the critical need to keep abortion accessible to all who need it. While anti-abortion extremists continue to make direct threats against both patients and providers, New Jersey is showing the power of states to advance legislation that protects access to care. I applaud the New Jersey and Maine state legislatures and Governor Mills for moving reproductive health care forward and call on Governor Murphy to sign New Jersey’s bill into law immediately.”

For more than a decade, NIRH has been a leader in the fight to advance reproductive freedom across the country. Recently, they were integral to the successful effort to repeal an outdated criminal abortion ban in Massachusetts, and they led the fight to pass New York’s landmark Reproductive Health Act. Earlier this year, NIRH published a report tracking the passage of more than 100 bills to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice in 27 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.).

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The National Institute for Reproductive Health builds power at the state and local level to change public policy, galvanize public support, and normalize women’s decisions about abortion and contraception.

Using a partnership model, NIRH provides state and local advocates with strategic guidance, hands-on support, and funding to create national change from the ground up. We form strategic partnerships with a wide range of organizations to directly impact the reproductive health and lives of women across the country. Each year, NIRH works in at least 20 states and more than a dozen localities; to date, NIRH has partnered with more than 170 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations in 43 states and 64 localities across the country.