Once again, Democrats have gone all-in on protecting so-called "abortion rights" while undermining the actual rights of American citizens. It's not surprising that this is happening in New Jersey, where Gov. Mikie Sherrill just signed an unconstitutional law that prohibits prayer outside an abortion clinic and allows for frivolous lawsuits against sidewalk counselors and pro-lifers. That's one of the states still dragging the Little Sisters of the Poor to court in an effort to force them to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives and abortion, two things that are expressly forbidden in Catholic teaching. It's also the state that's waging war on pro-life pregnancy centers, specifically First Choice Pregnancy Resource Centers. Despite a 9-0 ruling at the Supreme Court, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport is continuing to subpoena the organization.
It's nothing more than a witch hunt, a way for the radical pro-abortionists in New Jersey government to dox and intimidate donors who protect women and their unborn children. They're doing the same thing by allowing lawsuits against pro-lifers, who were the target of a Biden-era weaponized DOJ. The process, as always, is the punishment.
Sherrill, in explaining this unconstitutional law, repeated the Left's favorite lie, that it's easier to get a gun than it is to get an abortion.
NJ Gov. Mikie Sherrill: “It's easier to get an AR-15 in the United States than it is to get an abortion." pic.twitter.com/ZfDusrF7Jm
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 20, 2026
It should be harder to kill an unborn child, which is not a right (no matter how loudly the Left squawks that it is), than to exercise your actual Second Amendment rights. The exact opposite is true, of course, and Sherrill knows this. They all do.
But contrast this with the Left's other behavior over the years, and especially after 2020. Violent, destructive mobs of leftists are allowed to roam our cities freely. They're able to tear down statues, vandalize property, set buildings on fire, and block traffic with little fear of consequences. The media call these events "fiery, but most peaceful protests." Meanwhile, the mere act of standing outside an abortion clinic, praying, is criminalized.
In January, my 16-year-old son went to D.C. for the March for Life with his high school and a pro-life organization. They stood across the street from an abortion clinic and peacefully prayed. Pro-abortion goons threw eggs at them, hitting my son's friend. While police escorted the attackers away, we never learned if they were charged with assault.
Meanwhile, in New Jersey, my son would face arrest and financial ruin.
And while the Left creates "Sharia-compliant" financial products to appease Muslims, tolerates widespread street prayer, and calls anyone who objects to the Islamification of America an "Islamophobe" and a bigot, they wage war on not only Catholic nuns, but Catholic sacraments, as Washington and Arizona have shown.
The double standard is glaring: for their friends, everything. For their enemies, the law. Even if it violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause.
And yes, this law is unconstitutional. In McCullen v. Coakley (2014), the Supreme Court unanimously struck down a Massachusetts law that made it a crime to “enter or remain on a public way or sidewalk” within 35 feet of the entrances, exits, or driveways of abortion clinics. That same ruling applies to New Jersey. But given how little respect the sitting Attorney General has for Supreme Court rulings, I don't expect them to follow McCullen v. Coakley or the inevitable Supreme Court ruling that strikes down this law, either.
But here's an idea to push back against such laws. President Trump should designate every ICE detention facility in New Jersey as an abortion facility. Or Republicans, if they had the spine, should pass similar shield laws that prohibit such behavior outside of ICE facilities, beyond the usual laws concerning obstruction. Watch how quickly the Left wails and gnashes its teeth over their own laws being used against them and how quickly they once again become conditional advocates of the First Amendment.
