S2260 Shields the Abortion Industry and Undermines Protections for Unborn Children

WASHINGTON — New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed S2260 into law today, expanding legal protections for abortion providers and restricting cooperation with investigations and legal proceedings originating in states where unborn children receive greater protection under the law.

National Right to Life condemned the law as an effort to insulate the abortion industry from accountability while further entrenching abortion in New Jersey.

“S2260 places the power of New Jersey’s government behind the abortion industry and against the lives of unborn children,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Governor Sherrill and the lawmakers who supported this legislation have chosen to make New Jersey a haven for those who end the lives of unborn children—even when those children and their mothers are located in states whose laws protect them.”

The law broadly defines “reproductive health care activity” to include providing, advising, facilitating, encouraging, referring for, assisting with, or providing material support for abortions considered legal under New Jersey law. It restricts certain investigations, legal actions, demands for records, professional disciplinary measures, and extradition proceedings arising from such activities.

The law also establishes criminal and civil penalties for specified acts classified as “interference with reproductive health care services.”

“S2260 attempts to prevent other states from enforcing their laws while shielding abortion providers who reach across state lines,” Tobias said. “This is not about protecting women’s health. It is about protecting abortion providers and expanding an industry whose purpose is the death of an unborn child.”

New Jersey Right to Life Executive Director Marie Tasy said the governor signed the legislation despite thousands of messages from New Jersey residents urging her to veto it.

“Governor Sherrill just signed a blank check for the abortion industry and a death warrant for countless unborn children with beating hearts,” said Tasy. “S2260 does not protect women. It protects the people who end the lives of living human children already growing in the womb. New Jersey should be a sanctuary for mothers and babies, not a legal fortress for those who profit from abortion.”

Supporters of S2260 repeatedly describe abortion as “reproductive health care.” National Right to Life rejected that characterization.

Tobias continued, “Abortion does not preserve or advance reproduction. It deliberately ends the life of an unborn child. Calling abortion ‘health care’ does not change what abortion does to that child or provide the meaningful support women deserve.”

National Right to Life and New Jersey Right to Life will continue working for laws and policies that protect unborn children while ensuring that women facing unexpected pregnancies receive compassionate assistance and genuine alternatives to abortion.

“Women deserve better than a government that treats abortion as the answer to difficult circumstances,” Tobias said. “They deserve practical support, compassionate care, and the assurance that both their lives and the lives of their unborn children matter.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.