TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey goes to construct up a provide of medicine utilized in abortions, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy introduced Tuesday throughout his State of the State tackle as he each pledged to work with President-elect Donald Trump and warned that the state is able to push again in opposition to the incoming administration.
Murphy is one among a handful of Democratic governors who criticized Trump on the marketing campaign path but now say they’re open to cooperation. However Murphy stated he won’t again down within the face of “anti-choice” insurance policies supported by the Republican majorities in Congress. He stated the state will stockpile mifepristone “so each lady can entry this important type of reproductive care.”
“I’ll by no means again away from partnering with the Trump Administration the place our priorities align,” Murphy stated throughout his tackle earlier than a joint assembly of the Democrat-led Legislature. “However simply as importantly, I’ll by no means again down from defending our New Jersey values — if and when they’re examined.”
New Jersey joins different Democrat-led states, together with Massachusetts and California in stockpiling mifepristone, one among two medication utilized in mixture used to finish pregnancies.
Throughout an interview with NBC Information final month, Trump stated he doesn’t plan to limit medicine abortion however he additionally appeared to go away the door open, saying “issues change.” Abortion rights teams are notably involved that Trump’s alternative for legal professional normal, Pam Bondi, might revive the Comstock Act, an anti-vice legislation handed by Congress in 1873 that, amongst different issues, bans the mailing of medicine or devices utilized in abortion.
Tuesday’s speech was Murphy’s second-to-last, and he emphasised his reluctance to turn out to be a lame-duck governor within the closing stretch of his second time period. Among the many different proposals he unveiled, Murphy stated he would direct faculties to ban cellphones in grades Okay-12.
“Our youngsters are inundated with screens,” he stated. “And they’re making it extremely troublesome for our children, not solely to be taught, however to retain the substance of what they be taught.”
Murphy is coming into the ultimate 12 months of his second time period, coinciding with the daybreak of a second Trump administration, simply as the start of his governorship overlapped with Trump’s first time period.
Murphy has outlined himself as progressive and ran for reelection that method. However his 2021 victory was far narrower than many anticipated and his get together’s losses within the Legislature noticed the Democrats refocus on affordability points like property tax reduction.
“Throughout this closing chapter of our journey, our absolute prime precedence — because it has been since Day One — is delivering financial safety and alternative to each New Jerseyan,” Murphy stated.
Now Murphy’s legacy — which features a prolonged checklist of laws because of the Democrat-led Legislature like tightening gun legal guidelines, legalizing leisure marijuana, taxing the rich and boosting training funding — is ready in opposition to the backdrop of a pitched Democratic main.
Time period-limited from searching for one other 4 years in workplace, Murphy will probably be turning the reins of the get together over to the eventual winner of a six-person discipline operating for governor on this yr’s contest. New Jersey and Virginia are the one two states commonly scheduled with gubernatorial races this yr.
Murphy’s imaginative and prescient for the state additionally coincides with a Democratic Occasion angling for a method ahead and a vote-getting nationwide message after final yr’s loss to Trump and the GOP victories, slim as they’re, in Congress.
The speech, analogous to the presidential state of the union tackle however on the state stage, quantities to a blueprint for the way the governor desires the yr to unfold.
Laws he sought final yr to bar debt collectors from divulging sufferers’ medical money owed to client credit score reporting businesses, as an illustration, was enacted. He additionally succeeded in getting laws overhauling inexpensive housing necessities are managed within the state.
However the speech may also underscore how restricted the governor’s energy could be. Final yr, he known as for laws to allow 16-year-olds to vote at school board elections. The measure hasn’t superior within the Legislature, although he reiterated his name for the invoice on Tuesday. He additionally known as for an “synthetic intelligence moonshot.” To this point, a process pressure the governor established has issued a report calling for the state to embrace generative AI.
The U.S. Supreme Courtroom unanimously preserved entry in June to mifepristone, which is utilized in almost two-thirds of abortions. The case earlier than the courtroom threatened to chop again entry to the drug, together with in states the place abortion is authorized. Abortion is banned in any respect levels of being pregnant in 14 states, and after about six weeks of being pregnant in three others, typically earlier than girls understand they’re pregnant.
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