Speaker Coughlin Statement on New DOBI Regulations to Require Comprehensive Abortion Coverage in Department Regulated Health Insurance Markets

(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin (D-Middlesex) issued the following statement in response to today’s announcement that the Department of Banking and Insurance has adopted new rules to require comprehensive abortion coverage as a part of all health benefits plans regulated by the department:

“We are standing up for New Jerseyans who want to make safe decisions about their families and their futures. We passed the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act to ensure those rights. Make no mistake about it—right now, there are legislators in New Jersey who have introduced legislation to ban abortions, prosecutors across America are seeking access to medical records in places like New Jersey to intimidate and prosecute women, and activist judges are attacking the freedoms women have had in America for 50 years. Here in New Jersey, we will fight to continue to support the rights of women to make their own decisions when it comes to their healthcare.”

Today’s announcement is the result of the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act (S-49/ A-6260), which in addition to codifying the right to reproductive choice in New Jersey, also tasked the Department of Banking and Insurance with conducting a study on the impact of insurance coverage on the availability of reproductive health care services. The study found a need for regulatory action to require coverage for abortion services. The new rules take effect in the large employer market today.