Mandatory Zero-Cost Abortion Coverage in All NJ Health Plans

A3122 would require every hospital and medical expense contract delivered, issued, executed, or renewed in New Jersey to cover abortion alongside other reproductive health services, with no deductible, copayment, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing requirement permitted. That mandate reaches private carriers, the State Health Benefits Plan, the School Employees' Health Benefits Plan, and the Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare programs alike. The American Council opposes this bill and calls on every legislator to vote against it.

The bill defines abortion to include aspiration abortion and medication abortion along with follow-up care. These procedures are listed explicitly as covered services within the bill's definition of "family planning and reproductive health care services," placing them on par with prenatal care, well-baby visits, and ultrasound testing. We believe every human life is sacred from its earliest moments, and a mandate that treats the termination of a pregnancy as a routine benefit to be funded without any cost-sharing crosses a moral line the Council cannot accept. Legislators who share that conviction should join us in defeating this bill.

The religious employer exclusion written into the bill is narrow: it applies only to coverage already subject to an exclusion granted under existing New Jersey law. No new pathway for conscience protection is created by A3122 itself. Employers and plan sponsors whose beliefs conflict with abortion coverage but who do not already hold that specific exemption receive nothing from this bill. We find it deeply unjust to compel participation in covering procedures that violate sincerely held religious and moral convictions, and we urge legislators to reject this approach.

The obligation created by Section 1 attaches to contracts entered into or renewed after the 120th day following enactment, meaning the mandate would begin flowing through the market as soon as plans come up for renewal after that window. Sections 2 and 3 extend the same no-cost-sharing requirement into Medicaid, NJ FamilyCare, and public employee plans without waiting for contract cycles. The breadth of this reach, across virtually every form of health coverage in the state, makes defeating the bill all the more urgent. There is no version of A3122 that is acceptable to the Council; the bill must not become law.