TRENTON, NJ — Today, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed A5802 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 ‘gag rule’ is a direct attack on Planned Parenthood and our patients — and New Jerseyans will pay the price unless the Legislature takes action,” said Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey. “Here in New Jersey, patients must be able to continue to access the reproductive health care services they need and deserve. That is why legislators must vote in support of S4103/A5802.”

Title X is the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care, and is meant to ensure that access to reproductive health care like cancer screenings and birth control does not depend on who you are or how much money you make. Here in New Jersey, Planned Parenthood plays an outsized role, as more than 70 percent of the 110,000 patients served by Title X received care at a Planned Parenthood health center.

The Trump-Pence administration’s gag rule is 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. On August 19, Planned Parenthood affiliates in New Jersey and across the country were forced out of the federal Title X program. Planned Parenthood currently is operating on emergency funds. However, the organization cannot continue to do so indefinitely. Without the state support provided in A5802 and its companion bill S4103, providers like Planned Parenthood cannot continue to offer the same level of services as currently provided.

“We already know that elected officials from across the state, as well as Governor Murphy and his administration, stand with Planned Parenthood and our patients in opposition to the medically unethical gag rule,” said Wojtowicz. “Our patients are our number-one priority and we will not compromise patient care due to this unethical gag rule.”

In states such as Ohio, Planned Parenthood providers have already been forced to close health centers due to the loss of Title X funding. New Jersey also has seen the impact of funding cuts to family planning providers; when funding was eliminated from the state budget during the previous administration, STD rates skyrocketed in the state.

“It is vitally important that the New Jersey Senate and Assembly pass this legislation as soon as possible to keep services available to patients and to keep our doors open,” said Wojtowicz. “We must not continue to play politics with New Jerseyans’ health.”