TRENTON, NJ – This Thursday, November 14, the New Jersey Legislature will hold its first hearing on S4103/A5802, a bill introduced to ensure patients of Planned Parenthood health centers in the state can continue accessing affordable reproductive health care services. Patients in New Jersey already know that elected officials from across the state, as well as Governor Murphy and his administration, stand with Planned Parenthood in opposition to the medically unethical gag rule – and this makes a big impact in the lives of the more than 70,000 patients relying on this critical funding to preserve their access to health care.

S4103/A5802 will protect families struggling to make ends meet in New Jersey by providing funding for lifesaving family planning services such as access to birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screenings, and other essential services. This emergency state funding comes after the Trump-Pence administration gagged doctors participating in the federal Title X program. Now, it is impossible for patients to come to Planned Parenthood and access affordable care through Title X, despite major medical organizations such as ACOG and the AMA speaking out against the medically unethical gag rule.

Planned Parenthood won’t withhold critical information from our patients because of our commitment to ethical patient care and we know we are not alone. From New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal suing the Trump-Pence administration, to members of New Jersey’s Congressional delegation fighting the gag rule, to champions in our state Assembly and Senate pledging to replace funding lost when Planned Parenthood was forced out of the Title X program: these New Jersey leaders stand with the majority of New Jerseyans who oppose “defunding” care at Planned Parenthood health centers.

The $9.5 million in state funding is available to any provider, not just Planned Parenthood, who leaves the Title X program in order give patients full information about their health care without compromising medical ethics by complying with the gag rule. Here in New Jersey, Planned Parenthood plays an outsized role in the program, as more than 70 percent of the 110,000 patients served by Title X received care at a Planned Parenthood health center. Planned Parenthood was the sole Title X provider in 13 New Jersey counties in 2018. Without Planned Parenthood, all other Title X-funded sites in New Jersey would have to increase their contraceptive client caseloads by 254 percent to serve the women who currently obtain birth control from Planned Parenthood health centers.