Protect X:
Title X in New Jersey

S4103/A5802:
Protect Access to Birth Control,
Cancer Screenings, and
STI Testing and Treatment in New Jersey

On August 19, Planned Parenthood affiliates in New Jersey were forced out of the federal Title X program due to the enforcement of the Trump-Pence administration’s unethical “gag rule.” The gag rule is unethical and dangerous to the health of patients in New Jersey and across the country, as it is intended to prevent patients from receiving full information about all of their health care options. Seventy percent of Title X patients in New Jersey receive care at a Planned Parenthood health center — meaning those tens of thousands of patients now don't have federal funding to help them access birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment.

S4103/A5802 will protect patients in New Jersey by providing funding for lifesaving family planing services at Planned Parenthood and other providers who were forced out of Title X due to the gag rule. The bills provide for $9.5 million in funding to help protect patients’ access to care. These bills have been introduced into the Senate and Assembly and will support Planned Parenthood’s patients who need these services.

Without this state support, providers like Planned Parenthood cannot continue to offer the same level of services as we are currently providing. In states such as Ohio, Planned Parenthood providers have already been forced to close health centers due to the loss of Title X funding. We have also seen the impact of funding cuts to family planning providers right here in New Jersey – when funding was eliminated from the state budget during the previous administration, STD rates skyrocketed in the state. It is vitally important that the NJ Senate and Assembly pass this funding bill as soon as possible to keep our services available to patients in NJ and to keep our doors open.