New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called on the Legislature to pass a series of measures to make the state more affordable — including proposals to defray the costs of an abortion and help people pay off medical debt.
“I am calling on our Legislature to pass a bill — sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz and Assemblywoman Shanique Speight — to scrap out-of-pocket costs for abortion procedures and do all we can to protect patients and providers,” Murphy said during his annual State of the State address Tuesday. “Let us do it before the summer. We cannot lose any momentum in the fight for fundamental freedoms.”
The effort would expand on other initiatives during Murphy’s tenure — codifying the abortion rights formerly protected under Roe v. Wade, including for individuals from out of state, creating a state portal for reproductive health information.
Murphy also introduced one of the many guests he brought to the speech, Andrew Gregory of Tenafly, who lost his wife to ovarian cancer and has worked to raise awareness about medical debt.
“Pulling people out from crushing medical debt is vital. But so is protecting them from falling down that hole in the first place,” Murphy said. “In that spirit, today, I am calling on our Legislature to enact a new package that will help families avoid being caught in a medical debt trap, and require every medical bill to be clear and transparent.”
Murphy said he wants the package of bills to be named in memory of Louisa Carman, 25, who worked at his Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency, and worked on the bills. She died…
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