A New Jersey Democrat introduced legislation establishing travel advisories informing women of restrictive abortion laws in other states they may be visiting.
The bill, proposed by state Sen. John Burzichelli, would require New Jersey’s health and state departments to launch a website that would list color codes for states depending on how restrictive their abortion laws are, according to NJ Spotlight News.
“If you’re an individual, a woman, traveling across this country for business — or if you’re thinking about going to school in Mississippi [for instance] — it will help you to know what kind of medical services are available to you should you need emergency care of some kind,” Burzichelli told the outlet.
The color codes under the “Reproductive Health Travel Advisory” are blue, yellow and red.
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Blue would mean women can exercise normal caution and access to abortion would be available without fear of civil or criminal prosecution, and yellow would mean women should exercise increased caution as abortion restrictions could result in civil or criminal prosecution. Red would mean women are urged to reconsider travel because abortion access is extremely restricted and could result in medical issues and civil or criminal prosecution.
“Right now, there’s no single place to go to say, ‘OK I have to travel. I have to go to Texas and then move over and go to Tennessee,'” Burzichelli said. “You don’t have that info at your fingertips. You can find it, but it’s a hodge-podge.”
“You, as an American female, do not have equal rights across all 50 states,” he added. “And it’s important for you to know what rights you don’t have when you go somewhere, because something unexpected could happen.”
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The proposal comes after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in 2022, returning the power to make laws on abortion access back to the states.
Following the ruling, a number of Republican-controlled states enacted laws restricting abortion access, with some exceptions such as in cases of medical emergencies, while some Democrat-controlled states have approved advanced protections of abortion access.
“It’s hard to imagine we’re even talking about this in 2024 in America,” Burzichelli said. “To think that we have to think about even doing this just speaks volumes about where we are at the moment,”
New Jersey expanded access to abortion, enacting statutory protection for abortion as a fundamental right, and the state’s highest court ruled the “fundamental right of a woman to control her body and destiny” is protected under the state’s constitution, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The state also welcomes women who travel from other states for an abortion because their own states have bans in place. Additionally, the Garden State protects them from being extradited after the procedure.
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