ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN'S AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 3418

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 20, 2025

      The Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 3418.

      As amended and reported by the committee, this bill enters New Jersey in the Women's Reproductive Health Care Compact (compact).

      Under the amended bill, a member state is required to work with other member states to: (1) prevent the extradition or investigation of an individual or entity involved in the provision or receipt of women's reproductive health care services; (2) prevent the disclosure of records or permitting civil discovery orders for the provision or receipt of women's reproductive health care services; (3) prevent negative licensing actions or malpractice insurance raises and clawback lawsuits against individuals or entities for the provision or receipt of women's reproductive health care services; and (4) prohibit any external collection of individually identifiable data on: (i) the number of individuals seeking women's reproductive health care services; (ii) the domicile of an individual seeking women's reproductive health care services; (iii) the form of actions taken against women and their medical providers for seeking out-of-state reproductive health care services; and (iv) barriers identified by women seeking out-of-state reproductive health care services, including costs for transportation, lodging, food and child care, and any other relevant issues.

      The bill provides that the following are not subject to this compact:  (1) the collection of data not relating to women's reproductive health care services; and (2) the collection of information which would constitute a violation of: (i) the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,” Pub.L.104-191; or (ii) any federal or state privacy law.

      Under the amended bill, any member state may withdraw from this compact with six months' written notice to the chief executive officer of every other member state to the compact.  The attorney general of each member state is to enforce this compact.  A taxpaying resident of any member state has standing in the courts of any member state to require the attorney general of that member state to enforce this compact. 

      The bill provides that the compact is to be liberally construed so as to effectuate its purposes. If any provision of this compact, or the applicability of any provision of this compact to any government, agency, person, or circumstance, is declared in a final judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to the Constitution of the United States or is otherwise held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this compact and the applicability of the remainder of this compact to any government, agency, person, or circumstance is not to be affected. If this compact is held to be contrary to the constitution of any member state, the compact is to remain in full force and effect as to the remaining member states and in full force and effect as to the affected member state as to all severable matters.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to clarify that a member state is to work with other member states to prohibit any external collection of individually identifiable data. The amendments also add the proper case citation to the United States Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade.