CLIFTON Ironically, during Respect Life Month in October, state lawmakers introduced the Reproductive Freedom Act (S3030/A4848), legislation that flies in the face of respecting life in the womb and expands, even more extremely, access to abortion and abortifacients in New Jersey.
Pro-life activists are urging all people of faith in the state to stand up and be heard as a voice for the voiceless in the womb to stop the passage of the bill that will allow late-term abortions right up to the birth of the child in the womb. The bill also includes the language that “a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus shall not have independent rights under the laws of this state.” The legislation has the full support of Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, who claims Catholic roots.
The bill also permits non-physicians to perform abortions; nullifies conscience clauses for medical personnel, who are against abortion; mandates an annual allocation of taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood under Title X in the state budget; exempts prosecutions for individuals who terminate or attempt to terminate their own pregnancy; and requires all insurance carriers to provide coverage for abortions and expands coverage for contraceptives.
If this bill is allowed to become law, it will not be able to be struck down in the future as a clause in the bill states, “It shall be the policy of this state to invalidate, and prohibit the future adoption of all laws, rules, regulations, ordinances, resolutions, policies, standards, or parts thereof, that conflict with the provisions or the express or implied purposes of this bill.”
When the bill was first released in October, the state’s bishops, through the N.J. Catholic Conference, their public policy arm, issued a statement condemning the proposed legislation. “The Catholic Church believes and teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death. For that reason, we, the bishops of each of the dioceses in New Jersey, join in voicing the strongest possible opposition to the ‘Reproductive Freedom Act.’ As the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey, we urge all Catholics and people of good will to reject this proposed legislative initiative in our state and to contact your state legislators to vigorously express opposition to its passage,” the statement said in part.
Pro-lifers protested the Reproductive Freedom Act that many believe is deceptive in name on Nov. 11 outside the offices of sponsors of the bill. Almost 200 people gathered at offices of Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle in Teaneck. Another protest was held later that same day outside the office of Sen. Linda Greenstein in Cranbury.
Christine Flaherty, director of Lifenet, was part of these protests, labeled as a “Day of Outrage.” “We are protesting this outrageous new bill, which is being fast-tracked by Gov. Murphy, that will expand abortion in the state. The name is very ironic because so many elements of this bill take people’s individual freedoms away,” she told The Beacon.
Lisa Hart, a parishioner of St. Patrick Church in Chatham and vice president of Morris County Right to Life, also participated in the protests. “This bill, nicknamed the ‘License to Kill Bill,’ or ‘Kill at Will Bill’ is the most radical bill ever proposed in our state. It attempts to enshrine in perpetuity the ability to kill a baby in the womb through all nine months. It removes the conscience protection for medical workers. It allows nondoctors to commit abortions. Young pregnant girls can get an abortion without their parents’ knowledge or permission, risking their heath. And it forces every one of us to pay for it.”
Lifenet offers many ways pro-lifers can respond to this bill to stop its passage. “Christians and people who care about human rights need to work together like never before. Our people need to engage more. If we don’t our rights will vanish very quickly,” Flaherty said.
Some of the ways the faithful can respond is by contacting their three N.J. state representatives (their one state Senator and their two Assembly members) and tell them to oppose S-3030/A-4848, the Reproductive Freedom Act. (To find your state legislators’ addresses, go to https://njcatholic.org/legislators-by-diocese.)
Another way to fight this bill, suggests Flaherty, is by using the symbols representing the pro-life movement in the state. “Symbols are very important and successful to social movements. The baby feet symbol with ‘Equal Rights for Babies in the Womb’ is a symbol of the pro-life movement in the state. We have car magnets that people can place on their cars to show their support for life in the womb wherever they go. We need to start getting organized.”
Pro-life advocates will also gather for another “Day of Outrage” protests at the offices of several Reproductive Freedom Act bill sponsors on Wednesday, Dec. 2. Information can be found on Lifenet’s website.
Frank Tinari, parishioner of Holy Family Church in Florham Park and editor of “Family and Pro-life News Briefs for Catholics,” said, “The title of the Act is deliberately deceptive. It should more honestly be titled, ‘Pregnancy Termination Act,’ or better, ‘Developing Baby Extermination Act.’ There are numerous problems with the bill. The two that stand out for me are that non-doctors will be allowed to perform abortions in New Jersey. This in no way improves women’s health care, and may endanger it. The second thing is that New Jersey conscience clauses will be nullified. This is a serious encroachment on our basic civil rights and, to me, may be the grounds for litigation.”
“It is a very, very sad time in the history of our state that something so horrifying can even be written on paper, never mind considered as law,” said Hart. “What has happened to us? Why does anyone think killing a baby in the womb is a good thing, never mind insisting that society pay for it, allowing it when the child can clearly feel horrific pain, endangering the health of women and hurting society as a whole?”