• In 2010, Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) completely eliminated the state family planning budget line that allocated $7.4 million for basic reproductive health care services.  He also withdrew an application for a family planning waiver that could have provided coverage to New Jersey residents in need and saved the state over $73 million. 

• This year, the Governor and several Assembly Republicans claim that the budget fully funds women's health by redirecting “women’s health funding” away from Planned Parenthood and family planning providers to what they call "legitimate services" at Federal Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and the New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection (NJCEED).  Some Legislators even go so far as to brag that no funds shall go to Planned Parenthood.

• Women rely on Planned Parenthood as an essential provider of trusted, quality healthcare. The assertion that the services we provide are NOT “legitimate healthcare” is offensive and out of touch with the needs of New Jersey's women.

• Don’t be fooled by this bait and switch!  This latest talk is little more than a politically motivated attack on the tens of thousands of New Jersey women who rely on Planned Parenthood and family planning providers for quality, affordable reproductive health care. 

• These attacks on family planning and women’s health have nothing to do with money.  In fact, an increase in unintended pregnancies could prove costly for New Jersey in the years to come.  In 2008, services provided at Title X-supported centers in New Jersey saved $133 million by helping women avoid unintended pregnancies and the births that would follow.

• While FQHCs and NJCEED programs provide many valuable services, they do not always provide the level of routine gynecological care, STI testing, counseling and education that Planned Parenthood and other family planning centers provide. 

• Additionally, this funding reallocation could in fact result in a reduction in NJCEED referrals – as many arise from initial screening during a visit to a family planning provider.

• In 2010, CEED screening sites conducted over 13,000 mammograms and 12,000 pap tests.  Planned Parenthood and other family planning centers provided over 70,000 breast examinations and 65,000 pap tests in 2009.  Additionally, family planning health centers provided over 27,000 HIV tests, 57,000 Gonorrhea tests, 7700 Syphilis tests and 66,000 Chlamydia tests.

• Community health centers, family planning providers and other safety net providers are often partners in providing care to underserved communities.  FQHCs alone simply cannot take on an influx of 40,000 family planning patients.

• Additionally, family planning providers specialize in women’s health care and offer some reproductive health care services not offered by all community health centers.  The elimination of state funding for any one of these safety net providers will result in fewer patients being seen overall. 

• Many women in New Jersey live in areas with insufficient access to FQHCs.  Somerset County, for example, has none.  Women’s Health and Counseling in Somerset County, the primary location providing essential health services to that area, anticipates that they will see 800 fewer patients in 2011 as a result of cutbacks.

• Six out of ten women who obtain care at Planned Parenthood and other family planning centers describe it as their usual source of medical care.  For many low-income women, who might otherwise lack access to traditional primary care, Planned Parenthood provides a crucial entry point to the health care system.

Title X  and State Funding 2009 Numbers

• In 2009, New Jersey’s Title X funded health centers provided services to:
• 97,129  patients without health insurance
• 23,114  patients with public insurance (Medicaid, Medicare, NJ FamilyCare)
• 8,843  patients Private Insurance
• 7,278  patients whose insurance status was unknown

Also in 2009, New Jersey’s Title X health centers provided

• Reproductive and preventive health care to 126,903 women and 9461 men
• Breast examinations to 70,506 women with 4039 referrals for further evaluation
• Pap tests to 65,252 women
• HIV tests to 27,386 women and men
• 57,027 tests for Gonorrhea, 7727 tests for Syphilis and 66,035 tests for Chlamydia

Annually, Title X-supported centers provide contraceptive services that help NJ women avoid 25,700 unintended pregnancies.  In the absence of these services, the number of unintended pregnancies would be 23% higher and the number of abortions would be 18% higher.