State Assembly votes to restore family planning funding

The New Jersey State Assembly approved a bill to restore $5 million in funding for family-planning clinics on Monday. The bill passed by a vote of 44-25 with 10 abstentions.

The measure came after Republican Gov. Chris Christie eliminated the $7.5 million budget to support the clinics, which provided care to more than 100,000 patients across the state in 2009. Roughly 25 percent of the clinics’ budgets come from state funds, and many have been forced to reduce hours or shut down.

Since the vote fell 10 votes short of the 54-vote threshold needed to override a veto by the governor, Christie is expected to fight the plan. He stripped funding from the clinics in conjunction with other sweeping budget cuts in an attempt to close the state’s $11 billion deficit in June. In July, Christie vetoed legislation aimed at restoring the full $7.5 million.

The $5 million proposal would redirect unspent money from an account used to reimburse county jails for housing state prisoners.

A second bill passed on Monday, by a 45-25 vote with nine abstentions, would require the state government to apply for federal funding to expand Medicaid coverage for family planning services.

As many as 27 other states have already approved additional funding for family-planning clinics, hoping to take advantage of a federal matching program. If the bill passes the State Senate and is signed into law by Christie, New Jersey could expect to receive up to $15 million in federal support over the next three years.

“If this doesn’t go through, we’re going to continue to find another fund. We’re going to look under every single rock, every single opportunity, to be able to continue to fight for the women and families of New Jersey,” Assemblywoman Pamela Rosen Lampitt, a Democrat from Camden, told the Cherry Hill Courier-Post.

The clinics, which serve uninsured women, function as a resource for unexpected pregnancies and other female contraceptive and health needs. The centers provide birth control, breast and pelvic exams, pregnancy tests and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.

When Christie cut the clinics’ funding in June, he said he believed that there were other alternatives for women in need of pregnancy counseling.

The bills have been criticized by anti-abortion activists, who argue that the three New Jersey clinics that already provide abortion services would only benefit from the expansion that additional funding could provide.

Marie Tasy of New Jersey Right to Life told The Star Ledger that the bills would “support and expand the abortion business, paid for by New Jersey taxpayers.” Medicaid is supported by a combination of federal and state funds, and each state can decide whether to use its own funds for abortions. New Jersey Medicaid funds can be used for abortions.

However, Democrats and clinic officials counter that none of the taxpayer money funds abortions. Rather, clinic operators argue their centers attempt to prevent unwanted pregnancies and decrease the number of abortions through effective family-planning efforts.