New Jersey governor signs bill allocating $9.5 million to family planning clinics undercut by Trump – By Kerry Eleveld (Daily Kos) / Jan 2 2020
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill Thursday intended to offset the dip in federal funding caused by Donald Trump’s gag order preventing family planning clinics from referring women for abortions. The new law sets aside $9.5 million in funding for family planning services for clinics in the state that lost access to federal funding.
About 100,000 people in New Jersey, mostly women, received services through the family planning program Title X, according NBC News in New York. Many clinics, Planned Parenthood in particular, have chosen to forego the federal funding and defy Trump’s gag rule.
Gov. Murphy said that many providers “made a conscious decision to continue providing health care information and resources at the expense of much-needed federal funding.” For that reason, he said, the state was “stepping up” to make sure no residents would be deprived of critical services due to the federal rule.
Murphy’s wife, Tammy Murphy, echoed the sentiment. “The federal government’s Title X gag rule jeopardizes access to critical health care services such as cancer screenings, sexually transmitted disease testing, affordable birth control, and more for approximately four million patients served across the country,” she said. “Ensuring access to comprehensive family planning services is critical and this necessary legislation will lead to better health outcomes for New Jersey’s women and children.”
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