History
The Committee on Abortion was created at the Monmouth Memorial Hospital in Long Branch during the 1940s with the goal of reducing the number of abortions at the hospital performed for therapeutic reasons. [1] Monmouth Memorial Hospital's Dr. Robert A. MacKenzie said of this process, "No physician is going to ask the Committee to consider a case which he has not carefully studied, nor about which he does not feel strongly." [1] MacKenzie went on to say about review committees, "No woman will consent to be taken to the hospital for possible examination and interrogation unless she desperately feels the need for help." [1]
In March 2015, then-Governor (and later a US Republican presidential primary candidate) Chris Christie issued a statement to the Susan B. Anthony List that said he supported a 20-week abortion ban. [2]
In September 2018, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker released documents related to Brett Kavanaugh's position on abortion when Kavanaugh was serving as a staff member in President George W. Bush's White House. [3]
With states like Alabama and Georgia passing restrictive abortion laws in early 2019, some businesses announced they would boycott these states. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said that these boycotts would likely mean two tech companies would not base themselves in the city. Other states moved to try to take advantage of this political situation, including New Jersey where current Governor Phil Murphy related a statement that said, "New Jersey is open for business for any company that, given the assault on a woman's right to choose perpetrated by states like Alabama and Georgia, is seeking a home that recognizes basic constitutional rights. [...] New Jersey offers not only a hospitable business climate, but also maintains its progressive values, which include defending a woman's right to choose." [4]
Legislative history
By the end of the 1800s, all states in the Union except Louisiana had therapeutic exceptions in their legislative bans on abortions. [5] In the 19th century, bans by state legislatures on abortion were about protecting the life of the mother given the number of deaths caused by abortions; state governments saw themselves as looking out for the lives of their citizens. [5]
In January 2015, a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act was discussed but was ultimately pulled because female Republican New Jersey House members expressed active opposition to the bill, with one major complaint being the only exception was in rape and only if the woman had reported the rape to the police. [2]
As of 2017, Washington State, New Mexico, Illinois, Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey allow qualified non-physicians to prescribe drugs for medical abortions only. [6] In early 2018, State Sen. Jeff Van Drew quietly withdrew his sponsorship of a bill that supported parental consent before a minor could request an abortion in New Jersey. [7] As of March 2019, New Jersey remained one of the few states in the country that lacked mandatory consent for minors to get an abortion, either through parental notification or judicial bypass. Laws also existed that allowed women to drop off newborn infants at certain designated locations without providing their contact information and without facing legal consequences for child abandonment; such a law is called a Safe-Haven law. As of May 2018, the state did not require waiting periods or mandatory parental consent for abortions or prohibit state funding for abortions. [8]
In January 2021, governor Phil Murphy signed the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act into law, preserving the legal right to obtain an abortion, fulfilling a reelection campaign promise. The law was passed in anticipation of a possible Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade , which was considered likely after the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the court. [9] (The Supreme Court did overturn Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , No. 19-1392 , 597 U.S. ___(2022) later in 2022. [10] [11] )
Judicial history
In 1858, the New Jersey Supreme Court said of a woman, "Her guilt or innocence remains a common law. Her offense at the common law is against the life of the child.... The statue regards her as the victim of the crime, not as the criminal, as the object of protection, rather than of the punishment." [5] The US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester. [5] However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , No. 19-1392 , 597 U.S. ___(2022) later in 2022. [10] [11]
Clinic history
Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state decreased by twelve, going from 100 in 1982 to 88 in 1992. [12] During the 1990s, Steven C. Brigham opened his first abortion clinic in the state in Wyomissing. [13] While working at his clinics, Brigham performed a number of botched abortions, including late-term abortions. These were investigated and later resulted in Brigham losing his medical license. [13] In 1996, the state had 94 abortion clinics and was one of only three to gain clinics in the period between 1992 and 1996. [14] In 2011, there were 64 facilities which provided abortions of which 24 were abortion clinics. [8] In 2014, there were 79 facilities that provided abortions of which 41 were abortion clinics. [15] [8] In 2014, 33% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 23% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic. [16] In March 2016, there were 26 Planned Parenthood clinics in the state. [17] In 2017, there were 26 Planned Parenthood clinics in a state with a population of 2,046,346 women aged 15–49 of which 22 offered abortion services. [18]
In 2014, Steven C. Brigham lost his medical license and was ordered by the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners to divest his ownership in six abortion clinics. [19] [13]
Vikram Kaji owned a chain of abortion clinics in New Jersey in 2019, but had his medical license revoked in January 2019 because of physical and mental impairments as a result of a stroke. As part of his agreement when his license was revoked, he agreed to sell these in April 2019. His agreement also included a provision that would make it possible for state regulators to remove 62-year-old Steven C. Brigham as co-founder of seven of those clinics. [19] [20]
