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. . . others, including New Jersey Right to Life, oppose it.
"Planned Parenthood uses the family planning money to counsel and refer for abortion," said Marie Tasy, its executive director. "There are a number of primary health care facilities that provide the same non-abortion services as Planned Parenthood, so women in New Jersey will have other places to obtain this type of health care. The state is not obligated to fund Planned Parenthood."
She charged that the organization's programs have failed to reduce the rate of abortion in New Jersey — the state has the second-highest abortion rate in the nation among teenagers. She also accused Planned Parenthood of benefiting from pay-to-play politics, because, she said, its supporters in the legislature receive contributions from its political action arm.
Family planning clinics around the state are bracing for closures, reduced hours and fewer staff and services if a $7.5 million cut contained in the state budget signed this week is not reversed.
The money pays for contraception — and also for cancer screenings and other women's health services — at 58 centers serving 136,000 patients statewide.
Clinics in Englewood, Hackensack, Garfield, Paterson, Passaic and Pompton Lakes will be affected if the cuts are implemented. Two Planned Parenthood chapters with a total of 16 clinics in northern New Jersey face the loss of a combined $2.4 million, and the North Hudson Community Action Corp., with eight sites providing family planning, will lose $550,000.
Planned Parenthood's clinics in Englewood and Hackensack could face closure or cutbacks. "I've got two centers in one county," said Triste Brooks, head of Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey. "Can I make do with one?"
"We're at a loss, not knowing if we're going to be able to fund our services going forward," Cindy Raske, supervisor of the Englewood Planned Parenthood clinic, said Thursday.
In Paterson, a prenatal program that filled the gap when Barnert Hospital closed will be eliminated because of the budget cuts, said Jane Hutnik, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey. The affiliate also may have to close one of its six centers in Passaic and Essex counties, lay off 21 people and serve 4,800 fewer patients, Hutnik said.
"We're reeling," she said.
North Hudson's health centers, including sites in Garfield and Hackensack, saw more than 13,000 family planning patients last year, most of them uninsured, said CEO Christopher Irizarry. With no state family-planning support, and funds for the uninsured already tapped out, it will be hard to provide the services, he said.
The Legislature passed a measure on Monday to restore the funding, and Governor Christie has 45 days to decide whether to sign or veto the legislation. On Thursday, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, called upon the governor to take action quickly so the Legislature could prepare for a veto override.
"This is a women's health issue, not a budget issue," Weinberg said at a news conference attended by nearly 100 Democratic lawmakers and family-planning advocates.
"We found the money," she said, explaining that the bill was budget-neutral because it used money allocated to a state employee prescription plan that has grown less than expected.
The margin of passage in each house was enough to override — 30-10 in the Senate, and 42-22 in the Assembly, with 13 abstentions — but the number of Assembly abstentions makes the outcome uncertain.
At the Englewood Planned Parenthood center last week, a 26-year-old woman said she would "probably go off birth control" if the center closed. Like many Planned Parenthood patients, her only contact with the health care system is her clinic visits. It charges a sliding fee scale for services.
"We're looking at everything," with funding cuts, said Raske, the Englewood center supervisor. "We have to reevaluate how often the clinic is open, how much staff we can retain, and the services we offer our patients. … Nothing's been decided." The center does not perform abortions.
The cuts will probably mean a loss of 8,000 of the 40,000 visits a year to the chapter's 10 clinics.
"For a huge majority of our patients, we're their only medical provider," Brooks said.
Planned Parenthood provides many preventive services, including screening for breast and cervical cancers, high blood pressure, anemia and diabetes, and testing for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections.
Saves money
Its preventive services save the state money, said Michele Jaker, executive director of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey/Family Planning Association of New Jersey. "Family planning saves taxpayers $4 for every $1 spent," she said.
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, D-East Orange, said at the news conference that she will raise the funding issue every day the Legislature is called into special session to deal with a property tax cap.
Though the Legislative Black Caucus and the Women's Political Caucus of New Jersey support the restoration of funds, others, including New Jersey Right to Life, oppose it.
"Planned Parenthood uses the family planning money to counsel and refer for abortion," said Marie Tasy, its executive director. "There are a number of primary health care facilities that provide the same non-abortion services as Planned Parenthood, so women in New Jersey will have other places to obtain this type of health care. The state is not obligated to fund Planned Parenthood."
She charged that the organization's programs have failed to reduce the rate of abortion in New Jersey — the state has the second-highest abortion rate in the nation among teenagers. She also accused Planned Parenthood of benefiting from pay-to-play politics, because, she said, its supporters in the legislature receive contributions from its political action arm.
Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, R-Westwood, said she would not be part of any veto override.
"I've always been supportive of family planning," she said. "However in this crisis that we're facing right now, there have been so many things that have had to be cut that are good initiatives. The money is not there."
"What are the men of this state going to do when they realize the women can't get birth control?" asked Brooks, of the Greater Northern New Jersey Planned Parenthood. "Are we supposed to tell the adults of this state, 'Just say no?' "
E-mail: washburn@northjersey.com
Family planning clinics around the state are bracing for closures, reduced hours and fewer staff and services if a $7.5 million cut contained in the state budget signed this week is not reversed.
The money pays for contraception — and also for cancer screenings and other women's health services — at 58 centers serving 136,000 patients statewide.
Clinics in Englewood, Hackensack, Garfield, Paterson, Passaic and Pompton Lakes will be affected if the cuts are implemented. Two Planned Parenthood chapters with a total of 16 clinics in northern New Jersey face the loss of a combined $2.4 million, and the North Hudson Community Action Corp., with eight sites providing family planning, will lose $550,000.
Planned Parenthood's clinics in Englewood and Hackensack could face closure or cutbacks. "I've got two centers in one county," said Triste Brooks, head of Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey. "Can I make do with one?"
"We're at a loss, not knowing if we're going to be able to fund our services going forward," Cindy Raske, supervisor of the Englewood Planned Parenthood clinic, said Thursday.
In Paterson, a prenatal program that filled the gap when Barnert Hospital closed will be eliminated because of the budget cuts, said Jane Hutnik, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey. The affiliate also may have to close one of its six centers in Passaic and Essex counties, lay off 21 people and serve 4,800 fewer patients, Hutnik said.
"We're reeling," she said.
North Hudson's health centers, including sites in Garfield and Hackensack, saw more than 13,000 family planning patients last year, most of them uninsured, said CEO Christopher Irizarry. With no state family-planning support, and funds for the uninsured already tapped out, it will be hard to provide the services, he said.
The Legislature passed a measure on Monday to restore the funding, and Governor Christie has 45 days to decide whether to sign or veto the legislation. On Thursday, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, called upon the governor to take action quickly so the Legislature could prepare for a veto override.
"This is a women's health issue, not a budget issue," Weinberg said at a news conference attended by nearly 100 Democratic lawmakers and family-planning advocates.
"We found the money," she said, explaining that the bill was budget-neutral because it used money allocated to a state employee prescription plan that has grown less than expected.
The margin of passage in each house was enough to override — 30-10 in the Senate, and 42-22 in the Assembly, with 13 abstentions — but the number of Assembly abstentions makes the outcome uncertain.
At the Englewood Planned Parenthood center last week, a 26-year-old woman said she would "probably go off birth control" if the center closed. Like many Planned Parenthood patients, her only contact with the health care system is her clinic visits. It charges a sliding fee scale for services.
"We're looking at everything," with funding cuts, said Raske, the Englewood center supervisor. "We have to reevaluate how often the clinic is open, how much staff we can retain, and the services we offer our patients. … Nothing's been decided." The center does not perform abortions.
The cuts will probably mean a loss of 8,000 of the 40,000 visits a year to the chapter's 10 clinics.
"For a huge majority of our patients, we're their only medical provider," Brooks said.
Planned Parenthood provides many preventive services, including screening for breast and cervical cancers, high blood pressure, anemia and diabetes, and testing for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections.
Saves money
Its preventive services save the state money, said Michele Jaker, executive director of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey/Family Planning Association of New Jersey. "Family planning saves taxpayers $4 for every $1 spent," she said.
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, D-East Orange, said at the news conference that she will raise the funding issue every day the Legislature is called into special session to deal with a property tax cap.
Though the Legislative Black Caucus and the Women's Political Caucus of New Jersey support the restoration of funds, others, including New Jersey Right to Life, oppose it.
"Planned Parenthood uses the family planning money to counsel and refer for abortion," said Marie Tasy, its executive director. "There are a number of primary health care facilities that provide the same non-abortion services as Planned Parenthood, so women in New Jersey will have other places to obtain this type of health care. The state is not obligated to fund Planned Parenthood."
She charged that the organization's programs have failed to reduce the rate of abortion in New Jersey — the state has the second-highest abortion rate in the nation among teenagers. She also accused Planned Parenthood of benefiting from pay-to-play politics, because, she said, its supporters in the legislature receive contributions from its political action arm.
Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, R-Westwood, said she would not be part of any veto override.
"I've always been supportive of family planning," she said. "However in this crisis that we're facing right now, there have been so many things that have had to be cut that are good initiatives. The money is not there."
"What are the men of this state going to do when they realize the women can't get birth control?" asked Brooks, of the Greater Northern New Jersey Planned Parenthood. "Are we supposed to tell the adults of this state, 'Just say no?' "
