NEWARK –  Jack Ciattarelli spent a lot of verbiage the last few months condemning the Reproductive Freedom Act, which supporters say would protect abortion rights regardless of any action by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Democrats never passed the bill despite having a comfortable majority in both houses and despite it being backed by Gov. Phil Murphy. Now with Democrats losing seats in both houses, passage may be even more difficult in either the lame duck session or the new Legislature in 2022.

But advocates are not giving up.

First Lady Tammy Murphy said today that it’s important to pass the act in New Jersey. She spoke along with Sen. Bob Menendez at a rally/press conference in front of the historic Essex County courthouse to support abortion rights and Planned Parenthood.

Joe DiVincenzo, the Essex County executive and another speaker, spoke of things going not forward, but backwards.

Many Republican-led states have passed laws that virtually outlaw abortion.

These measures theoretically run afoul of the court’s Roe v. Wade ruling nearly 50 years ago, but abortion opponents are emboldened by the changing make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court. While justices do not always rule in line with preconceived ideological assumptions, the court is now seen leaning right by a 6-3 margin.

It has set a hearing for early next month on an anti-abortion law from Mississippi.

“The threat to Roe v. Wade has never been greater,” Menendez said.

He condemned what he called “unrelenting attacks” on abortion rights by anti-choice ideologues.

The senator wasn’t pleased either with Republicans who he said “stole” a Supreme Court seat by refusing to confirm a justice nominated by Barack Obama in 2016. That would have been Merrick Garland.

That is old news by now, but the anger among Democrats lives on.

The current Senate is 50-50, but Dems have the advantage because any tie-breaking vote would be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris.

That is timely because of the pending Build Back Better Act, a $1.75 trillion package that would appropriate money for child care, medical care, pre-school and also eliminate the $10,000 deduction cap on state and local taxes, a Democratic goal for four years now.

The problem, as we saw with the just-passed infrastructure bill, is to bring different factions of the party together.

Menendez is confident that will happen.

He’s also a big proponent of the bill.

“It’s imperative, imperative. (that) it becomes the law of the land,” Menendez said.