As a Rutgers public health researcher studying abortion access, I have tracked how rapidly the legal landscape has shifted. Our latest analysis of abortion care in New Jersey, released this week, shows both the strength of our state’s protections and their limits. New Jersey has some of the strongest abortion protections in the country. However, our research shows that state borders are not a firewall, and those protections depend heavily on federal policies that could change quickly.
Our study, in partnership with the New Jersey Family Planning League, shows that abortions increased 25% in New Jersey from 2020-24, more than double the national rate. Clinics expanded capacity, making New Jersey a critical access point for people traveling from states where abortion has been eliminated or severely restricted. In 2023 we had 48 providers. We now have 60 statewide: 42 brick-and-mortar clinics and 18 telehealth-only.
Vulnerable protections
In New Jersey, as across the country, abortion care has evolved. More than half such procedures in our state are medication abortions. Indeed, nearly half of New Jersey’s clinics provide medication abortion exclusively. Telehealth has become an increasingly important pathway to care, reducing barriers related to travel, childcare, time off from work and privacy.
This shift toward medication abortion and telehealth has allowed providers to meet rising demand. But it also creates a structural vulnerability: New Jersey’s abortion infrastructure depends heavily on federal regulatory protections for medication abortion and the ability to mail prescriptions across state lines. Yet new federal and judicial attacks on abortion access are designed to apply across borders, piercing New Jersey’s protective environment.
Multiple states have filed lawsuits seeking to prohibit distribution of mifepristone by mail across the United States. There is a real threat that a single federal ruling, or an FDA action, could restrict access nationwide. Also of concern is the 1873 Comstock Act, a long-dormant federal law restricting the mailing of obscene materials. That could be used to ban mailing abortion medications.
Contact lawmakers
No state, not even New Jersey, is fully insulated. If medication abortion is restricted or telehealth distribution curtailed nationally, access here would narrow — for residents and for traveling patients.
Our state may be a safe haven now, but it is crucial to remain vigilant and advocate for continued protections both in New Jersey and nationally. New Jersey voters and lawmakers have made clear where this state stands. Federal action that overrides those decisions would not only affect patients, but also would undermine our state’s authority to govern its own public health system.
Preparing for that uncertainty requires more than strong state statutes. It demands sustained investment in provider capacity, telehealth infrastructure and a workforce equipped to navigate rapidly changing legal environments. That is why at Rutgers School of Public Health, we are expanding training in sexual and reproductive health and reproductive justice — to ensure the next generation of public health professionals is prepared to protect access.
In the face of national challenges, New Jersey must defend and strengthen access. Federal actions that override our protections would undermine both patient care and our authority to govern public health. New Jersey residents who value access to reproductive health care should urge their lawmakers to strengthen protections for providers and invest in the telehealth infrastructure that so many patients now rely on.
