SENATE HEALTH, HUMAN SERVICES AND SENIOR CITIZENS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 712

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 16, 2026

      The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 712.

      The amended bill requires the New Jersey Office of Information Technology to establish the “New Jersey Reproductive Health Travel Advisory” to inform New Jersey residents of the extent to which states within the United States restrict access to reproductive health care services.

      Pursuant to the amended bill, the travel advisory is to provide a description of each state in the United States with respect to reproductive health care services, including, but not limited to, gestational duration bans, waiting periods, insurance coverage bans, medication restrictions, constitutional protections, reproductive health care funding, and criminal and civil liability for patients and health care providers.  The travel advisory is required to provide the information according to the following tiered system:

      (1)  “Blue:  Exercise normal caution,” which signifies that pregnant individuals have access to all forms of reproductive health care without fear of civil or criminal prosecution;

      (2)  “Yellow:  Exercise increased caution,” which signifies that pregnant individuals have restricted access to reproductive health care that could result in civil or criminal prosecution; and

      (3)  “Red:  Reconsider travel,” which signifies that pregnant individuals have extremely restricted access to reproductive health care that could result in an adverse medical outcome, pregnant individuals being subject to civil or criminal prosecution, and individuals seeking emergency reproductive medical care not being provided life-saving care due to state law.

      The New Jersey Office of Information Technology is to publish the travel advisory in a prominent location on the official website of every relevant State executive department and update the advisory for each state every time a state experiences a change in its law, rules, or regulations concerning reproductive health care services.

      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.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amendments make consistent all references to “reproductive health care.”

      The committee amendments require the New Jersey Office of Information Technology to implement the provisions of the bill and to publish and maintain the travel advisory in a prominent location on the official website of every relevant State executive department.  As introduced, the provisions of the bill were to be implemented by the Department of State and the travel advisory would be published and maintained on the Department of State’s website.

      The committee amendments make technical changes concerning style and punctuation.