Pallone Sounds Alarm as Trump Administration Launches Further Attacks on Abortion Coverage in New Jersey

LONG BRANCH, NJ – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) convened a virtual roundtable today with leading reproductive health advocates to respond to the Trump administration’s probe of New Jersey’s 2022 law requiring health insurers to cover abortion care.

As Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Pallone emphasized that Trump administration’s actions represent a broader effort to use federal power to interfere with states that have taken steps to protect women’s reproductive rights.

“This is part of a coordinated effort by Donald Trump to restrict abortion access nationwide after Roe v. Wade was overturned,” said Pallone. “Republicans couldn’t get a national ban through Congress, so now they are dusting off obscure provisions to pressure states like New Jersey. Make no mistake: this is about right-wing politicians deciding they know better than women and their doctors. New Jersey made a clear choice to protect access, and now Trump is trying to override it.”

The investigation launched by Trump’s U.S. Department of Health and Human Services targets 13 states and invokes the Weldon Amendment, which the Trump administration claims allows insurers to object to abortion care services. Reproductive health experts and advocates have warned the probe is an attempt to undermine state laws that expanded access to care after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Participants in today’s discussion included Jenifer Groves of the NJ Family Planning League, Jill Lazare of NOW-NJ, Sarah Best of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey, and Katie O’Connor of the National Women’s Law Center, who all outlined the consequences of the Trump administration’s actions for patients across New Jersey.

“We’re in a fight for survival — not just for Planned Parenthood health centers, but for everyone’s ability to get high-quality, affordable health care, no matter how much money they make or who they are. We are grateful to have advocates like Congressman Pallone to sound the alarm and fight back against the attacks to reproductive freedom,” Sarah Best Legislative and Policy Director Planned Parenthood Action Fund of NJ.

"The New Jersey Family Planning League stands firmly with Governor Mikie Sherrill and her unwavering commitment to defending New Jerseyans and their right to reproductive freedom from the federal government’s latest strategy in attacking abortion care access. The League believes unequivocally in the fundamental right of every individual to make their own decisions about their body, health and future, free of coercion or interference. We remain dedicated to our mission of supporting access for essential health care services, including abortion care, in New Jersey for all individuals, regardless of identity, income or insurance status," said Jenifer Groves, President & CEO of NJFPL.

"The recently announced HHS investigation into New Jersey's protection of women's right to reproductive healthcare is yet another insidious step in this administration's attack on women.  Their aim is clear: to send women back to the Middle Ages - barefoot and pregnant. They do not believe women have the right to their own autonomy and, as such, seek to leave women without the right to make the choices that are only their's to make.  Access to an affordable abortion is a crucial, fundamental part of a woman's healthcare and is their right. This investigation serves only as another step in Trump's campaign to suppress women in every area of American life and it must fail,” said Jill Lazare President of NOW-NJ.

“New Jersey is a state that protects access to affordable abortion care, and now the Trump-Vance administration — which has repeatedly claimed abortion should be ‘left to the states’ — is punishing them for it. By weaponizing the anti-abortion Weldon Amendment, this administration is interfering with state autonomy in an attempt to further its anti-abortion agenda. That's why we are urging Congress to eliminate the extreme Weldon Amendment and protect pregnant people's right to access the health care that they need,” Katie O'Connor, Senior Director of federal abortion policy at the National Women's Law Center.

###