New Jersey anti-free speech bill criminalizes abortion 'interference'

New Jersey lawmakers advanced a bill this week that would criminalize "interfering" with abortion procedures and so-called "gender-affirming care." Critics note that it infringes on the First Amendment right to free speech.

Key Takeaways:

• A New Jersey committee has advanced A2218/S2260, which would prohibit "interference" with abortion and 'transgender' services.

• The legislation makes it a crime to harass or block individuals from accessing abortions, while elevating the protected status of abortionists and abortion businesses.

• The bill would also allow a person to sue anyone who “causes a reasonable person to suffer damage to the person’s business or personal reputation, financial harm, or pain and suffering, mental anguish, or emotional harm” due to committing or receiving an abortion.

• The bill's opponents warn it infringes on the First Amendment right to free speech, as well as parental rights.

The Details:

The General Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced A2218/S2260 on June 8. The legislation would make “interference with reproductive health services,” a criminal offense; these "services" include abortion and cross-sex hormones for minors.

As Fox News reports, the bill would "make it a fourth-degree crime to harass, harm or block individuals from accessing or providing such services, while extending protections to providers against extradition to states that have criminalized reproductive or transgender treatments."

The bill also contains a civil liability provision that would allow a person to sue anyone who “causes a reasonable person to suffer damage to the person’s business or personal reputation, financial harm, or pain and suffering, mental anguish, or emotional harm” because the person facilitates, performs, or receives "reproductive health services."

Protections would also extend to abortionists and businesses committing abortions and would extend to people traveling to the state for abortions. Legal consequences would also apply to "interference originating from outside the state."

Violators inflicting "significant bodily injury" face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000.

40 Days for Life

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New Jersey lawmakers are advancing legislation that could put peaceful pro-life outreach in the crosshairs. Offering help is not harassment. Prayer is not interference. Women deserve support. Children deserve protection. Americans deserve the freedom to peacefully advocate for Show more

3:17 PM · Jun 9, 2026

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If the bill is enacted, New Jersey would become the first state in the nation to pass such a measure.

Lawmakers in the full Assembly were originally slated to vote on the bill June 11.

However, according to a Facebook post from New Jersey Right to Life, that vote has been postponed to a later date "to address constitutional issues" in the bill.

Why It Matters:

Various groups are warning that this measure could have a chilling effect on free speech and parental rights in the state.

Gregory Quinlan of the Center for Garden State Families warned that the legislation would threaten the work of pro-life sidewalk counselors. “We could be 100 feet away and just praying and still be found in violation," Quinlan told the New Jersey Monitor.

Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, said the bill infringes on the First Amendment right to free speech. “The threat of prosecution is enough to silence lawful speech. And that happens to be exactly what this bill is designed to accomplish,” she said.  

Even the New Jersey Press Association is opposing the measure, warning it could impact truthful reporting.

“These bills lack basic constitutional safeguards and would punish truthful reporting relating to reproductive health care services, as well as protected opinions about such services,” said New Jersey Press Association Chairman Brett Ainsworth.

“For example, contrary to what the Constitution requires, the expansive language means a reporter could be civilly or criminally liable for publishing an article about the troubling practices of a reproductive healthcare services provider, even if the reporting was well-documented and fully accurate,” he elaborated. “A provider could simply assert his or her reputation or emotions were harmed by that truthful reporting.”

The Bottom Line:

Though New Jersey has already cemented itself as a radically pro-abortion state, this measure takes protecting abortion to an unprecedented level. Women deserve to know that abortion is not their only option. When pro-life speech is silenced, the only winner is the abortion industry.