ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN'S AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1970

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 9, 2026

      The Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1970.

     This bill enters New Jersey in the Women's Reproductive Health Care Compact (compact).

     Under the 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, increases in malpractice insurance premiums, 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, child care, and any other relevant issues.

      This bill was prefiled for introduction in the 2026-2027 session pending technical review.  As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.