UPDATE STOP S2260/A2218: NJ Bill Protects Puberty Blockers for Minors: Children will be Harmed!Thursday, May 14, 2026.
Tomorrow: A2218 Protects Puberty Blockers for Minors, Criminalizes Desent, and Interferes With Law Enforcement
Photograph from Save Jersey
New Jersey’s Senate Health Committee Advances S2260 Shield Law: Protecting Harmful “Gender-Affirming” Care While Crushing Free Speech and Ignoring Explosive New Evidence
On May 11, 2026, the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee — chaired by Sen. Joseph F. Vitale — held a heated hearing on bill S2260, the flagship “shield law” in the Reproductive Freedom and Health Equity package. The measure advanced on a 5-2 party-line vote. Supporters framed it as essential protection for patients and providers offering puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, surgeries, and counseling for gender dysphoria, particularly amid federal pushback. Critics called it a fortress around an ideologically driven medical experiment, complete with new criminal penalties for “interference” and explicit refusal to cooperate with other states’ laws.
The bill’s sweeping “interference” provisions — criminalizing obstruction of access, recording within 100 feet of facilities, or even disseminating dissenting medical information — amount to a direct assault on First Amendment rights. Peaceful protesters, journalists, parents, and clinicians risk prosecution for speaking out. New Jersey is not just protecting care; it is criminalizing dissent.
Rev. Gregory Quinlan Confronts the Committee on Transparency and Process.
The hearing’s most charged exchange came during public testimony from Rev. Gregory Quinlan, President and Founder of the Center for Garden State Families. A former homosexual who now ministers to those leaving that lifestyle and to detransitioners, Quinlan delivered a blistering indictment of both the bill’s substance and the committee’s tactics.
“First, I want to speak to the procedures here,” Quinlan began. “You talk to us about a substitute bill which we only heard of because Sen. Holly Schepisi referenced it in her remarks. Now we have it handed to us, and we’re supposed to testify on something we haven’t seen or haven’t had the time or the courtesy to review. That is the habit of the DEMONcrat Party in New Jersey.”
Chairman Vitale interrupted, stating the substitute was available before the committee. Quinlan pushed back firmly: “No, it was not. It wasn’t on the table, nor is it online. You stand corrected.”
“Mr. Quinlan,” the chairman responded. In business now want
“Mr. Vitale,” Quinlan replied pointedly.
Vitale continued to insist that substitute copies were on the table and that substitute bills are not posted online until voted on by the committee. Quinlan noted that six people seated and testifying at the same time saw no such copies — only the agenda and testimony slips were visible.
Quinlan continued: “As someone who left the homosexual lifestyle and deals with those people who are detransitioning, who have been mutilated brutally and cruelly by surgeons and organizations who seek to profit from all of this — the very people and organizations that you are trying to protect with your shield law — here’s a point that you need to understand. The interstate blockages that you’re attempting to do, as you’ve done in the last two bills I’ve seen, all of which have been written by the same organization that contributes to your campaigns, Planned Parenthood, interfere with interstate commerce and law enforcement. Those can be challenged federally, and likely will be.”
He highlighted how S2260 creates “broad new criminal and civil liabilities connected to interference with reproductive and gender-affirming services. The vague and expansive language raises legitimate concerns about a chilling effect on peaceful protest, sidewalk counseling, pro-life advocacy, religious outreach, and protected speech. This bill actually makes us criminals, who are talking against what is not scientific. There is no scientific evidence that anyone is born in the wrong body. This is a profit-making procedure.”
Quinlan concluded: “This is why we oppose the bill, and this is what is so irritating about the majority party in New Jersey: how it disrespects our ability to testify on the legislation you are passing.”
Sen. Andrew Zwicker, a key Democrat and sponsor of the controversial “Freedom to Read Act” (criticized by opponents as enabling sexually explicit materials — including references to apps like Grindr — in school libraries), was among those present during the tense back-and-forth.
Portions of this intense exchange can be heard on the state legislature’s website, though critics allege key segments appear muted or deleted.
The Cass Report: 32 Evidence-Based Recommendations Ignored
This procedural confrontation unfolded amid overwhelming scientific warnings the committee largely dismissed. Dr. Hilary Cass’s landmark 2024 independent review for England’s NHS — the Cass Report — issued 32 recommendations exposing the “remarkably weak” evidence base for the affirmation-only model. It highlighted social contagion, unaddressed co-morbidities (autism, trauma, same-sex attraction), and the abandonment of exploratory therapy. Britain restricted puberty blockers for minors to strict trials. European countries followed.
Trenton Democrats and activist witnesses instead prioritized emotional testimony from trans-identified youth and parents.
Oxford Study Confirms: “Sex Change” Operations Increase Suicide and Depression
A major study in the Oxford Journal of Sexual Medicine, analyzing data from over 107,000 patients, delivered further blows:
Men with feminizing surgeries: 25.4% depression rate — more than double the 11.5% among those avoiding surgery.
Women post-surgery: 22.9% depression vs. 14.6% in non-surgical counterparts.
Surgically transitioned men showed markedly elevated substance use disorders.
The procedures correlate with higher rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation — undermining claims of “lifesaving care.”
Ideology Over Science, Speech Over Safety
While the Trump administration rolls back federal mandates for experimental youth transitions, New Jersey Democrats are entrenching the very practices Europe has rejected. S2260 shields puberty blockers and hormones for minors, invites out-of-state patients, and criminalizes dissent — all while the Cass Report and Oxford data demand caution.
Rev. Quinlan’s confrontation exposed more than process issues. It revealed a pattern of rushed, opaque legislating that shields ideology from accountability. When lawmakers hide substitute bills, limit testimony, mute dissent, and advance policies that can sterilize children and silence critics, they betray the public trust.
New Jersey’s children, parents, and truth-seeking clinicians deserve better than secret substitutes, gagged speech, and medical experiments masquerading as compassion. The evidence is irrefutable. The process was not. Lawmakers who voted yes chose politics over people — and the lifelong victims of this rush to “affirm” will bear the cost.
Share this action alert with your friends and family. Copy the link below and send it to them right away.
https://www.votervoice.net/CGSF/campaigns/137393/respond
The above information was taken from an article 'Drama in Trenton: Sen Vitale faces off against Pro-Child advocate' by Jersey Conservative