Statement attributable to Jackie Cornell, Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey:

We would like to thank the Murphy Administration and the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) for moving to mandate coverage for abortion on all state regulated insurance plans. We believe in the universal right of all New Jerseyans to access reproductive health care regardless of income or economic status. This move by the Administration will help break down barriers to accessing abortion care.

This recommendation will benefit a broad segment of New Jerseyans. Already, New Jersey covers abortion care for those with Medicaid coverage. With this recommendation, all state employees and individuals covered by fully insured state-regulated insurance plans – which includes many New Jerseyans with private insurance through their employers – will benefit from abortion coverage as well.

The Administration’s recommendation is in line with our state’s longstanding value of putting patients first by ensuring coverage for a wide range of health care services. We hope to work together to expand the mandate to require coverage without cost-sharing, like all other reproductive health care services.

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey (PPAFNJ) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) non-profit social welfare organization, and the advocacy arm of the Planned Parenthood Affiliates in New Jersey. We advocate for access to essential health care through education, activism, voter engagement, grassroots organizing, and legislative advocacy. For more information, visit our website at: www.ppactionnj.org.