Murphy joins 16th district Dems for rountable on abortion access

With just under five weeks until this year’s legislative elections, Democrats in the competitive 16th district are laser-focused on abortion rights, betting that the issue rise to the top this cycle over Republican objections to sex education curriculums, offshore wind farms, and the federal indictment of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund New Jersey’s  Executive Director Jackie Cornell, hosted a roundtable tonight focused on reproductive freedom with Gov. Phil Murphy, State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick), Assemblyman Roy Freiman (D-Hillsborough), Assembly candidate Mitchelle Drulis, and physician Dr. Janai Mohan.

“To me, this question of reproductive freedom is the litmus test in this election,” Murphy said.  “This is a pass/fail litmus test: you are either with reproductive freedoms being defended by Andrew, Roy, and Mitchelle, or you’re not. You’re not kind of there. This is black and white.”

Zwicker echoed Murphy’s sentiments, as he pointed to legislative accomplishments on abortion access and funding planned parenthood, while he also emphasized that he believes this election could undermine those policies.

“The results of this election will have a key – key – impact on whether or not the freedom that women have in New Jersey for reproductive services continues in the years ahead”

Drawing a contrast between his record and the Republican challengers – State Senate candidate Michael Pappas and Assembly candidates Ross Traphagen and Grace Zhang – Zwicker directly attacked Pappas’ stance on abortion.  (Traphagen has distanced himself from Pappas on abortion, saying his is pro-choice.)

“My opponent for the last 30 years has been on the record: no exceptions.”

Pappas, a former congressman, has remained steadfast on his beliefs related to abortion.

“My position has been established many years ago and has not changed,” Pappas said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News.

While Pappas served as a central foil of the evening, both Freiman and Drulis shared personal stories about the importance of Planned Parenthood and to protect abortion access.

Freiman recounted the time he and his wife had a false-positive pregnancy and sought care from Planned Parenthood, where they did not fear they would be judged.

“So critical that we have trusted access, where a woman can go and feel safe and feel like it’s reliable – and that is critical and that is what we’re fighting for.”

Drulis spoke about what a “post-Dobbs world” will mean when her daughter gets ready for college. “There are certain states that are just not going to be possible for her to go to,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking, and we cannot let that happen in New Jersey,” Drulis added.

Democrats across the state are increasingly viewing abortion as a central issue on which to base their campaigns. Indeed, the 16th district Democrats have already released three ads, with abortion at the center of all of them.

Planned Parenthood endorsed 97 Democrats running for the legislature, including Zwicker, Freiman, and Drulis.