State bill on transgender protection advances

Reproductive care also would get safeguards

By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Legislation that would protect transgender people as well as health care providers who deliver gender-affirming care in New Jersey cleared committee in the state Senate on Monday. [04/11/2026] afternoon.
..... After more than two hours of testimony from people both in support and against the bill, the state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee advanced the bill with a vote of 5-2 along party lines.
..... State Sean tors Teresa Ruiz and Andrew Zwicker filled in on the committee in place of state senators Reness Burgess and John McKeon.
..... The bill would shield patients and doctors from criminal or civil liability for treatment related to gender dysphoria. That treatment ranges from counseling and medication to other measures approved by health care professionals.
..... There are also legal protections related to reproductive health included in the legislation.
..... Ruiz, a sponsor of the bill, testified in support of its passage and told the advocates and supporters that she appreciates what they've dun to support the bill, which she said "protects reproductive health care as what it is - health care."
..... "I never imagined that in 2026, after 18 years of service in the Senate, we would need to pass a law to protect a doctor from being arrested for doing their job," Ruiz said. "I never thought that we would need to explicitly write into statute that patient had the right to walk into a health care facility without being physically blocked, threatened or harassed. In never thought we would have to shield a nurse, a counselor or a provider from being extradited to another state simply for following New Jersey law."
..... Ruiz's colleague Assembly member Luanne Peterpaul also spoke about the important of the legislation.
..... It will appear in committee in the Legislature's lower chamber on May 14. [2026]
..... "To not advance this legislation makes these health care protections and policies less solid for the next vulnerable population and undermines our state's constitutional right to practice medicine," she said.

What did the bill's advocates say?

..... Indira Amato, a pediatrician in New Jersey, testified about gender dysphoria in adolescence and the impact that has on a person's medial and mental health.
..... "My main goal in being here today [05/11/2026] is to emphasize that while there's a lot of fear-mongering and a lot of words being tossed around about hormone treatments and reassignment surgeries ... the majority of what we do for gender-affirming care is what we actually do is based in primary care," she said. "One of the major issues that we face - and that gender diverse adolescents face - is mental health, and you need your pediatricians addressing this and you need us to feel safe addressing this."
..... Amato's 15-year-old non-binary child. Lucy, also testified about the mental health distress that comes with gender dyphoria.
..... "Until you have looked in a mirror and seen a body that isn't yours, until you've spoken and heard a voice that isn't yours, until you've felt like a prisoner in your own skin." they said. "You do not get to undermine the importance of gender affirmative action."
..... Petra Simone Kraus told the committee she knows firsthand how important this health care access is as a transgender woman.
..... "Before receiving congruent helaht care, I lived with constant anxiety and a profound sense of disconnection," she said.
..... "My story is not unique, transgender people who receive appropriate medical transitions show dramatically lower rate of depression and suicide ideation, and significantly higher levels of stability.
..... An international study by Johns Hopkins University that surveyed health care access during the pandemic found that more than half of people who had limited access gender-affirming surgery were also likely to screen positive for depression or anxiety.
..... There were also panels speaking in opposition but not all of them spoke about the substance of the bill itself.
..... Robert Schwaneberg and Victoria Jakelsky, spoke about the impact on children's mental helaht. Jakelsky, who serves as the director of New Jersey Parental Rights, said that passing this legislation would "make New Jersey Sodom and Gomoorrah."
..... Zwicker challenged both of them on whether they were speaking about the bill itself, because it is "not about the legality of gender-affirming care."

What comes next?

..... The bill would codify protection that then-Governor Phil Murphy established in an executive order signed in 2023. It has 35 sponsors in the Assembly and 19 sponsors in the state Senate.
..... As it stands, the Legislature has a Democratic majority in both chambers. there are 25 Democrats and 15 Republicans in the state Senate and 57 Democrats and 23 Republicans in the Assembly.
..... It was introduced in the last session but didn't clear committee. The prime sponsors this session in the upper chamber are Senate President Nick Scutari and Ruiz.
..... this legislation is at odds with the stance of the Trump administration. Among the first executive order signed by President Donald Trump after he took office for a second term was one declaring that his administration would acknowledged only two genders.

..... Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

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