RELEASE: Gottheimer Fights Back Against Far-Right Extremist Attacks on Women and Reproductive Health Care

Above: Gottheimer announces new action to protect women’s rights, safety, and health care. 

ENGLEWOOD, NJ — Today, Friday, March 28, 2025, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) joined local leaders and women’s rights advocates to honor Women’s History Month and announce new action to protect women’s rights and reproductive health care against far-right extremist attacks.

Gottheimer is fighting back against the Trump Administration’s decision to jeopardize critical funding for the Violence Against Women Act, which supports survivors of domestic violence and helps prevent violence and abuse. These are part of broader efforts to roll back women’s rights, including assaults on reproductive freedom and cutting investments in breast cancer and ovarian cancer research.

Video of Gottheimer’s announcement can be found here.

Far-Right Extremist Attacks on Women:

• In January, the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice announced that it would no longer enforce the FACE Act, bipartisan legislation that protects women seeking reproductive health care.
  • The Administration has even pardoned nearly two dozen lawless thugs who violated the FACE Act by breaking in and blocking access to reproductive health clinics.
  • In the last fifty years, reproductive health clinics across the country have seen more than 40 bomb threats, 200 incidents of arson, and 300 burglaries, according to the National Abortion Federation. 
• The Trump Administration has eliminated grant opportunities through the Office on Violence Against Women for law enforcement and community-focused organizations to support survivors and prevent violence and abuse.
  • For decades, the Office on Violence Against Women, created by the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), has administered grants that enhance legal protections for survivors, improve access to critical services, and strengthen law enforcement’s ability to prevent and address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.
• Last month, President Trump signed an executive order that pulled all federal grants that contain the word “woman,” jeopardizing critical support for medical research that would improve women’s health outcomes.
• Earlier this month, far-right extremists in Congress jammed through a reckless government funding bill that gutted investments in Community Project Funding (CPF).
  • Organizations like the Women’s Rights Information Center in Englewood, NJ, will lose funding for its mental health and well-being support services that support low-income, underserved victims of crime in Bergen County.
• In the United States, in 2025, women still earn just 83 cents for every dollar paid to men. 

Gottheimer’s Efforts to Fight Back Against Attacks:

• First, Gottheimer is urging New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin to use every tool at his disposal to enforce the FACE Act and hold anyone who threatens patients or providers at reproductive health care clinics accountable.
• Second, Gottheimer is sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding that she uphold the promises she made in her testimony before Congress to protect VAWA funding so these life-saving investments remain available to states and communities. 
• Third, Gottheimer helped introduce the bipartisan Safe Vehicle Access for Survivors Act to prevent abusers from using car location technology to track, intimidate, or control survivors.
  • This legislation establishes a process for survivors of domestic violence to request the termination or disabling of connected vehicle services, which includes information like location that could be misused by an abuser.
• Gottheimer has long fought to protect reproductive freedom and advance women’s health care initiatives:
  • This month, Gottheimer also signed an Amicus brief to the Supreme Court, making it clear that Congress established the right of Medicaid beneficiaries to receive comprehensive, essential health care from any provider of their choice.
  • Gottheimer helped introduce the Right to Contraception Act to codify into law the right to access and use contraception without government interference.
  • Gottheimer introduced the SEARCH Act to support research into rare diseases that disproportionately impact women.
  • Gottheimer introduced the Freedom to Decide Act and the Protecting Personal, Private Medical Decisions Act to protect doctor-prescribed access to mifepristone and support telemedicine across state lines. 
  • Gottheimer joined Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) to help introduce the bipartisan, bicameral Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, or Momnibus — a collection of legislation focused on addressing the social determinants of health, strengthening the maternal health support system and collecting better data surrounding the maternal health crisis.
  • Gottheimer helped lead the bicameral Access to Family Building Act to establish the right for women to access reproductive medical care, including IVF.

“We are witnessing in real time a full-scale assault by far-right extremists on women’s safety, rights, and health care. The President said he would ‘protect women whether they like it or not,’ yet he is refusing to enforce laws that protect them and handing out get-out-of-jail-free cards to those who threaten them. It’s completely disgusting. Here in Jersey, we will stand up and stand together against these far-right extremist attacks that are putting women’s lives at risk,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), a member of the Pro-Choice Caucus. “All you need to do is open your history books and read about what life was like for women in our country before Roe, the countless lives lost every single year, and you’ll understand why this situation is so dangerous. We can’t go back. If we don’t stand up now and make our voices heard, far-right extremists will continue to advance their agenda. We won’t allow extremism to win.”

Gottheimer was joined by Assemblywoman Shama Haider (LD37), Assemblywoman Ellen Park (LD37), New Milford Councilman Matt Seymour, New Milford Councilwoman Lisa Sandhusen, Liz Corsini of the Women’s Rights Information Center, Liz Seth of the Women’s Rights Information Center, and Teresa Napolitan of the Women’s Rights Information Center. 

Below: Gottheimer joins local leaders and women’s rights advocates to announce new action to protect women’s rights, safety, and health care. 

Gottheimer’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:

Good morning. In New Jersey, we’re fortunate to have great advocates, like those here today, who are dedicated to protecting women’s rights and ensuring their success. As you know, this month is Women’s History Month, and, as we honor and celebrate the endless accomplishments of women around our state and country, we are also confronting a wave of extremists and their seemingly endless attacks on women’s rights, health, and safety. 

That’s why we are here today to announce new action to defend and promote women’s rights, equality, and opportunity. As we stand here, at the Women’s Rights Information Center, I’m reminded of the countless women in our state who have blazed the trail for others. We’re home to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, right here in Bergen County, who helped lead the Women’s Suffrage movement and host the Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention. 

We’re the home of Madam Louise Scott-Rountree, who became Newark’s first African-American female millionaire after launching a line of beauty products and salons in the 1950s. Clara Barton who founded the Red Cross and opened one of the first Jersey public schools in Bordentown. Dorothea Dix who lived in Trenton and revolutionized the way we treat Mental Health. And, we must honor the women every day who work hard, help raise and provide for their families, who give back so much to our communities — they are the unsung heroes.

To commemorate these women and so many others, as Co-Chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, I helped Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney pass bipartisan legislation into law to create the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum on the National Mall, ensuring the countless contributions of women across the country will be honored for generations to come. 

Despite the progress we’ve made, there is still much more to be done. 

Equal Pay Day was earlier this week and, right now, in the United States, in 2025, women still earn just 83 cents for every dollar paid to men. The disparities are even larger for women of color. That’s why I also supported and helped pass the Paycheck Fairness Act in the House to close the persistent gap between men and women’s earnings once and for all. 

We won’t stop fighting for Equal Pay until that bill is signed into law. We are also witnessing in real time a full-scale assault by far-right extremists on women’s safety and health care. And these attacks are coming in from every direction.

Nearly three years ago, the Supreme Court turned back the clock on progress and overturned Roe v. Wade. That decision unleashed a tidal wave of extremism across the United States that has ripped away the fundamental rights of millions of women across the country to make personal and private medical decisions, putting their health and safety at risk. I helped pass the Women’s Health Protection Act in the House to enshrine Roe v. Wade into federal law, but far-right extremists have made it clear that overturning Roe is just the beginning.

For more than thirty years, the bipartisan Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act has helped protect patients and health care providers from threats, violence, and physical obstruction. The FACE Act allowed Englewood to establish an eight-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics, ensuring that those who seek care can do so free from violence. In the last fifty years, clinics across the country have seen more than 40 bomb threats, 200 incidents of arson, and 300 burglaries according to the National Abortion Federation. 

Yet, in January, the Trump Administration’s Department of Justice announced that it would no longer enforce the FACE Act and protect women seeking reproductive health care. Then, they dropped several ongoing investigations into threats against clinics. The Administration even pardoned nearly two dozen lawless thugs who violated the FACE Act by breaking in and blocking access to abortion clinics.

The President said he would “protect women whether they like it or not,” yet he is refusing to enforce laws that protect them and handing out get-out-of-jail-free cards to those who threaten them. It’s completely disgusting.

And the attacks don’t stop there. For decades, the Office on Violence Against Women, created by the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), has administered grants that enhance legal protections for survivors, improve access to critical services, and strengthen law enforcement’s ability to prevent and address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. But, just last month, the Trump Administration eliminated these opportunities for law enforcement and community-focused organizations just like this one to get funding from Washington to support survivors and prevent violence and abuse. 

An estimated one in four women in the U.S. have experienced domestic violence. In New Jersey, an act of domestic violence happens every seven and a half minutes. These are critical federal dollars that help local organizations like the Women’s Rights Information Center save lives. But instead of supporting women, the Administration is completely abandoning them. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, far-right extremists in Congress jammed through a reckless government funding bill that gutted investments in community projects. This means that organizations like the Women’s Rights Information Center will lose funding for its mental health and well-being support services for low-income, underserved victims of crime here in Bergen County. That’s one of the many reasons why I voted against this reckless and dangerous bill.

But, the attacks just keep on coming. Last month, the President signed an executive order that pulled all federal grants that contain the word “woman.” This outrageous move further jeopardizes critical support for medical research that would improve women’s health outcomes.

Here in Jersey, we don’t take a fight sitting down. We will stand up and stand together against these far-right extremist attacks that are putting women’s lives at risk. Today, I’m announcing new action to protect women’s rights, safety, and health care.

First, it’s a part of our Jersey Values to protect those who need care, even if the Administration refuses to do so. So, I am writing a letter to New Jersey State Attorney General Matt Platkin urging him to use every tool at his disposal to enforce the FACE Act and hold anyone who threatens patients or providers at reproductive health care clinics accountable. 

Second, during U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing, she swore under oath to “faithfully implement” VAWA programs that are crucial to supporting survivors of domestic violence. The Attorney General said that she would, and I quote “…ensure that all programs administered by the Department, including those at OVW, are administered effectively and in accordance with their missions as enacted by Congress.” 

So, based on her own words, I’m sending the Attorney General a letter demanding that she uphold her promise to protect VAWA funding and ensure these life-saving investments — that I voted to renew and strengthen in 2022 — remain available to states and communities like ours. 

Third, I’m helping introduce the bipartisan Safe Vehicle Access for Survivors Act to prevent abusers from using car location technology to track, intimidate, or control survivors. 

This will finally give survivors a clear legal pathway to revoke access from their abusers, reducing their vulnerability and helping them reclaim their safety.

In February, I helped introduce the Right to Contraception Act to codify into law the right to access and use contraception without government interference. And, this month, I signed an Amicus brief to the Supreme Court, making it clear that Congress established the right of Medicaid beneficiaries to receive comprehensive, essential health care from any provider of their choice.

Since I came to Congress, I’ve been laser focused on elevating women’s health issues. I launched my Project Women’s Health Initiative, a multi-front legislative agenda, which includes my SEARCH Act to support research into rare diseases that disproportionately impact women. Both my Freedom to Decide Act and the Protecting Personal, Private Medical Decisions Act also protect doctor-prescribed access to mifepristone and support telemedicine across state lines. 

I joined Congresswoman Lauren Underwood to help introduce the bipartisan, bicameral Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, or Momnibus, a collection of legislation focused on addressing the social determinants of health, strengthening the maternal health, and collecting better data surrounding the maternal health crisis.

I’m proud to have helped lead the bicameral Access to Family Building Act to establish a right for women to access reproductive medical care, including IVF, and for health providers to provide these services.

All you need to do is open your history books and read about what life was like for women in our country before Roe, the countless lives lost every single year, and you’ll understand why this situation is so dangerous. We can’t go back. We need to move forward in our great country, not backwards. Elevating and protecting the rights of more than fifty percent of our nation must be top of the agenda. Now, I’m not claiming this will be easy. We are up against a House, Senate, and White House filled with voices that want to turn back the clock on progress. But, we’ve been here before and we’ve stood up and fought back — and won.

So, it’s times like these that we are reminded just how much our voices matter. If we don’t stand up now and make our voices heard, far-right extremists will continue to advance their agenda. We won’t allow extremism to win. Commonsense and Jersey Values must prevail. 

In the greatest country in the world, I know that if we can come together, our best days will always be ahead of us. May God bless you, your families, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

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