Skip to content
Health
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

Gender-affirming health care is now protected in N.J. through a governor’s order

The executive order also bars state agencies from cooperating in any other state's effort to punish someone from getting gender affirming care in New Jersey.

Gov. Phil Murphy appears onstage at his election night party in Asbury Park in Nov. 2021. This week, he signed an executive order protecting access to gender affirming care in New Jersey.
Gov. Phil Murphy appears onstage at his election night party in Asbury Park in Nov. 2021. This week, he signed an executive order protecting access to gender affirming care in New Jersey.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

A governor’s order this week made New Jersey a safe haven for people seeking gender-affirming health care.

The order from Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, ensures access to health care that supports people whose gender identity doesn’t match the sex they were assigned at birth. This can include counseling, surgery, and hormone replacement therapy.

Trans and nonbinary people face a greater risk of suicide, depression, and addiction without gender-affirming care, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. When available to people who want it, gender-affirming care can help build self-esteem and a greater quality of life.

» READ MORE: Voice therapy can help trans people sound like themselves and feel safer

The New Jersey order comes as state legislatures and governors across the country consider bans on gender-affirming health care.

Legislative bans in Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah affect 18,700 transgender youth, according to data gathered by UCLA’s Williams Institute, which researches laws and policies related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Executive actions have similarly been used in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, and Texas to limit access to gender-affirming care for 59,200 transgender youth, the institute stated.

“Across the nation, we are witnessing attacks led by certain states that seek to undermine the equality, dignity, and safety of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially transgender and nonbinary youth,” said Murphy in a statement.

A bill proposed in the current session of the New Jersey Assembly seeks to prohibit anyone under 18 from receiving hormone therapies or surgeries related to gender reassignment. Both the Pennsylvania House and Senate have passed bills to prevent trans women and girls from participating in women’s sports, but former Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed the legislation.

Murphy’s order also prevents a patient or health care practitioner participating in gender-affirming care from being extradited to another state. State agencies are barred from cooperating with civil or criminal investigations in other states related to bans on gender-affirming care.