PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACTION FUND OF NEW JERSEY
Bill to Protect Title X Patients in NJ Passes Senate Committee

TRENTON, NJ — Today, the Senate Budget Committee passed S4103 out of committee. This bill will protect patients in New Jersey by providing $9.5 million in state funding for lifesaving reproductive health care services at Planned Parenthood and other providers who were forced out of the federal Title X family planning program due to the medically unethical gag rule. This new federal policy makes it impossible for patients to come to Planned Parenthood to access affordable care through Title X, despite major medical organizations such as ACOG and the AMA speaking out against the medically unethical gag rule. The Assembly passed an identical bill, A5802, on November 25.

“We thank the Senate Budget Committee for standing up for Planned Parenthood’s patients, who need and deserve affordable reproductive health care,” said Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, Vice President of Public Affairs with Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey. “New Jersey has a strong history of supporting reproductive rights and is a national leader on this issue.”

Elected officials from across the state, as well as Governor Murphy and his administration, have gone on record opposing the gag rule. The gag rule, which is intended to prevent patients from receiving full information about all of their health care options, caused Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country, including New Jersey’s two Planned Parenthood affiliates, to be forced out of the Title X program.

“Planned Parenthood stands with other medical professionals in our opposition to the gag rule. Prestigious, major medical organizations — including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association — have determined that the gag rule is medically unethical and compromises patient care,” said Wojtowicz. “It is now up to the full Senate to take action and protect patients’ access to care.”