Senate Budget Committee Cuts Health Care Funding

TRENTON, N.J. – The New Jersey State Legislature has many difficult decisions before them as they navigate the state budget during the COVID-19 pandemic – but health care should not be on the chopping block. Yet today, the Senate Budget Committee followed in the footsteps of the Assembly Budget Committee’s vote yesterday to cut funding to essential health care providers like Planned Parenthood.

“Health care funding should not be cut during a health care crisis,” said Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, VP of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Action Fund of NJ. “We need more access to health care right now – not less.”

PPAFNJ is calling on the legislature to amend the budget bill to at least level-fund family planning services, which helps support nearly 50 providers across the state, including Planned Parenthood, FQHCs, independent family planning providers, and county health departments.

This funding supports services like lifesaving cancer screenings, affordable birth control, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. These services keep communities healthy and save the state money in the long term. For further information, PPAFNJ has published two fact sheets: “Family Planning Funding in New Jersey: Essential Health Care During a Pandemic” and “A Closer Look at New Jersey’s Family Planning Funding.”

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey (PPAFNJ) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) non-profit social welfare organization, and the advocacy arm of the Planned Parenthood Affiliates in New Jersey. We advocate for access to essential health care through education, activism, voter engagement, grassroots organizing and legislative advocacy. For more information, visit www.ppactionnj.org.