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As the Trump administration intensifies its legal campaign against healthcare providers, New Jersey Democrats are moving to fortify the state as a refuge for transgender patients and doctors caught in the widening political fight.
On Thursday, the New Jersey General Assembly Health Committee passed legislation designed to shield providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care from prosecution and legal retaliation tied to care that remains legal in New Jersey. The move came just days after the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee advanced the Senate version of the bill on Monday, clearing the way for the legislation to move toward full floor votes in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
The “shield law,” backed by Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups including Garden State Equality, expands protections for doctors, hospitals, and patients involved in providing care that remains legal in New Jersey.
“This legislation is called a ‘shield law’ for a reason — it protects New Jersey’s providers of gender affirming and reproductive healthcare so they can continue providing the medically necessary, best practice healthcare their patients need,” Lauren Albrecht, Garden State Equality’s director of advocacy and organizing, said in a statement Thursday.
Related: New Jersey lawmakers are trying to shield trans health care from out-of-state threats
Democratic-led states are increasingly bracing for conflicts with Republican-led states and the federal government over transgender people’s healthcare access.
Earlier this week, NYU Langone received a federal grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas demanding records tied to minors who received gender-affirming care between 2020 and 2026, along with information identifying providers involved in their treatment. The subpoena appears to be the first publicly known criminal investigative demand tied to the administration’s widening investigation into transgender youth’s care.
“In light of the federal criminal subpoena of NYU Langone’s records, we worked overtime this week with our coalition of senators, assemblymembers, policymakers, and activists to expand the final version of the legislation to include protections against unfounded federal subpoenas,” Albrecht said.
Related: Here are the states that have laws protecting abortion and gender-affirming care
Related: Attacks on abortion and gender-affirming care are inextricably linked
According to the New Jersey Monitor, lawmakers recently amended the legislation to remove explicit references to “gender-affirming care,” instead broadening definitions tied to reproductive care to encompass treatment connected to gender identity and expression.
The Monitor reported that supporters viewed the change as strategic rather than substantive. “It’s not the word — gender-affirming care — that we need to protect. It’s the healthcare,” LGBTQ+ advocate Louise Walpin told the publication.
The legislation would codify and expand protections first established through Executive Order 326, signed by then Gov. Phil Murphy in 2023, which declared New Jersey a safe haven for gender-affirming care.
According to a 2024 report from the Williams Institute, 18 states and Washington, D.C., now have shield laws protecting gender-affirming healthcare providers and patients. Albrecht pointed to Hawaii, which enacted similar protections in 2023.
Related: For trans people reliant on federal programs, this election could change everything
Hawaii lawmakers this year advanced HB1875, legislation to expand the state’s existing shield law protections to explicitly cover gender-affirming healthcare services. According to Hawaii Public Radio, the law shields providers from out-of-state legal actions, licensing consequences, and insurance retaliation tied to transgender healthcare.
“As we push back against the attacks on gender affirming care and reproductive rights, New Jersey joins Hawaii in showing that we can fight back and win,” Albrecht said.
