Abortions By Non-Physicians Approved In NJ By Board Of Medical Examiners

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey’s Board of Medical Examiners recently gave the green light to permit non-physician medical professionals to perform abortions, with abortion a subject that has been heavily debated between incumbent Governor Phil Murphy with Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican looking to unseat him.

As part of the measure, the non-physician medical professionals will additionally be permitted to perform them in an office setting, past 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Murphy was quoted in a news release from the New Jersey Attorney General's office on the Board of Medical Examiners' unanimous vote allowing non-physician medical professionals to perform abortions, with Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck calling the former regulations "outdated;" and both he and Murphy praising the Board stating it expanded medical access. Bruck called the former rules "medically unnecessary" and said "they disproportionately limited healthcare access for people of color and underserved communities."

In debates, Ciattarelli has said that if he does win the election, even if Roe v. Wade was overturned, he would still permit abortions in New Jersey, however he is opposed to Murphy’s “Reproductive Freedom Act.”

In Oct. 2020, Murphy’s office gleaned over the details of the Reproductive Freedom Act in a news release, a bill stalled in the legislature since then, stating it “removes financial barriers,” that a person’s income or insurance status may prevent them from receiving “pregnancy-related care, including abortion.”

The Reproductive Freedom Act, Senate Bill number S3030 and its companion Assembly Bill A4848, continue to sit the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee and Assembly Health Committee. Co-Sponsored by Senators Loretta Weinberg D-37th Dist., Linda Greenstein D-14th Dist. and Vin Gopal D-11th Dist., the bill amends the existing law calling legal abortion a “necessary component of reproductive health care;” and asserting “due to controversies surrounding abortion rights in the State and nation, the Legislature must take affirmative steps to ensure that the ability of individuals to access legal abortion services in the State is not unnecessarily restricted.”

In addition to enabling “all qualified health care professionals” the ability to administer abortions in New Jersey, the bill also:

• Guarantees rights to contraception, abortion and to carry a pregnancy to term.
• Mandates insurance carriers to cover abortion care and contraceptives.
• States that residents and non-residents can choose whether to carry on with their pregnancy or have an abortion in New Jersey, under the State Constitution and "a public entity "may not discriminate on the basis of: sex, including, but not limited to, sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or perceived gender identity or expression; disability; race; ethnicity; age; national origin; immigration status; religion; incarceration status; or economic status."
• Prohibits future laws, rules, ordinances, policies and the like that could “conflict with the provisions” of the Reproductive Freedom Act.
• Asserts that “a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus shall not have independent rights under the laws of this state.”
• Tosses out any rules and regulations from the Board of Medical Examiners or the Department of Human Services, that could be in conflict.
• States if the Act conflicts with the religious beliefs of a provider, that provider will need to seek an exclusion and once obtained, will need to provide written notice of what contraceptive health services they decline to provide.
• Establishes a program through New Jersey’s Department of Human Services for prenatal and delivery care, plus abortion and contraceptive care reimbursement, with the Department of Human Services encouraged to seek federal funds to help offset reimbursement.
• States coverage can include “voluntary male and female sterilization.”
• Guarantees minors the ability to make their own medical decisions, with consent of the parents not needed for a hospital or medical facility to provide surgical care during a minor’s pregnancy, getting rid of laws like the “Parental Notification for Abortion Act.”
• Mandates that hospitals can’t restrict any aspects of the Act.
• States that if a baby dies in utero, the bill negates autopsies and death investigations.

See full details of New Jersey’s abortion bill here.

Medical Professionals, Those On Both Side Of Abortion Issue Weigh In

According to a NJ Spotlight News report, Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, Vice President of Public Affairs at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey said that in the pandemic, there have been difficulties in finding medical providers, citing “provider shortages.”

Wojtowicz additionally told NJ Spotlight News that when an OB-GYN is out ill or not available to perform abortions, patients don’t have other alternatives, suggesting a nurse or an advanced practice clinician who is “trained and there that day,” could do them, making it more convenient for patients.

Dr. Kristyn Brandi, the Board Chair for the Physicians for Reproductive Health called the change “a good thing for other providers to be able to provide this care across our state.”

She said that family medicine doctors and internal medicine doctors will be able to administer them, along with “non-MDs,” including nurse midwives and physician assistants.

Should an issue arise during the procedure, Brandi called abortion “incredibly safe,”claiming it is safer in comparison to other outpatient procedures, like wisdom teeth removal or a tonsillectomy.

“I absolutely think that providers who get trained to do this care,” Brandi responded to NJ Spotlight’s inquiry about safety, “are able to handle any of the complications that come with it.”

Brandi elaborated that the change “hopefully expands access to people that may not otherwise have access to this care.”

Marie Tasy, the Executive Director for New Jersey Right to Life, who sent a statement to NJ Spotlight News, on the other hand, called the change a “very dark day in New Jersey’s history,” asking how it is believed that it will be safer for the women to have an abortion by a non-physician in a medical office, up to the day of a child’s birth.

“We grieve for the incalculable number of women who will undoubtedly be harmed,” Tasy said, calling it a “snowballing effect of the number of babies killed," under a Murphy administration “extreme and shameful abortion ruling.”

The NJ Spotlight Report cited a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistic that approximately one percent of every abortion takes place after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Brandi called the decision one made between the woman and her physician.

Ciattarelli said during a recent debate with Murphy that of the people he’s encountered on both sides of the aisle on the campaign trail over the last 22 months, “No one supports an abortion in months seven, eight and nine, let alone having it performed by somebody other than an MD.”

With the General Election only days away, the Board of Medical Examiners declined NJ Spotlight News’ request for comment if its measure to permit abortions by non-physicians was politically motivated, but Wojtowicz responded it was not and has been in the works since January 2021.

“It’s their [the Board of Medical Examiners’] timing and process,” she said.

The Board of Medical Examiners’ allowance for non-physician medical professionals should be effective in the near future, with the next step training for non-physicians, NJ Spotlight News reports.

Watch NJ Spotlight News’ full report below:

Editor's Note: This story was updated to include more details of what the bill entails, with link to full bill in the article.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: [email protected].