New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announces changes that allow non-physicians to commit abortions

(National Right to Life News) Beginning soon, nurse practitioners, midwives and physician assistants [in New Jersey] will be allowed to do first-trimester aspiration abortions.

The changes were announced Monday by pro-abortion Gov. Phil Murphy, who adopted recommendations issued in October by the State Board of Medical Examiners, which is appointed by Murphy.

“At a time when our country is on the verge of severely limiting access to reproductive health care, New Jersey is prioritizing the expansion of these critical services,” Murphy said in a statement. “Removing outdated barriers to care ensures that all New Jerseyans have equitable access to reproductive health care.”

Pro-abortion Democrats, where New Jersey State Senate President Stephen Sweeney lost to a pro-lifer running on a shoestring campaign budget of a few thousand dollars and saw the Democrats’ 11-vote majority shrink to five in the Assembly, took a step back, at least for now, from passing the Reproductive Freedom Act.

According to Dustin Racioppi of the North Jersey News, this radical pro-abortion initiative “would go beyond Roe v. Wade by requiring health insurers to cover abortions and birth control at no cost out of pocket; easing regulations on late-term abortions, which are rare; and allowing professionals besides doctors, such as advanced practice nurses and midwives, to perform the procedure.”

READ: How a first trimester abortion works: The Suction Aspiration D&C

(Actually it goes even further than that. Abortions after the 14th week would no longer be required to be performed in licensed hospitals and the Conscience Clause law for health care workers would be eliminated.)

When the State Board of Medical Examiners authorized 15,000 nurses, physician assistants and midwives –non-physicians–to perform first trimester abortions, it paved the way to accomplish administratively what the Democrat-dominated legislature (for now) wouldn’t do. But this is not enough for the abortion lobby in New Jersey, who are nervous about a decline in the number of physicians who will do abortions.

That is why going beyond Roe is precisely the point, according to Alejandra Sorto, campaign strategist for the ACLU of New Jersey, which is part of a pro-abortion coalition called Thrive New Jersey. Adds Anjali Mehrotra, president of the National Organization for Women of New Jersey, which is also part of the Thrive coalition, “We’re going to keep pushing it.”

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published at National Right to Life News and is reprinted here with permission.

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