The New Jersey state Senate passed a women's health care bill today that would restore $7.5 million in funding to the state's 58 women's health clinics. Last year, Governor Chris Christie (R) cut all family planning funding from the state's budget and vetoed the attempts of the state Senate and Assembly to restore it. The Senate bill will now move to the state Assembly for a vote.
Some opponents of the bill stuck to their belief that the bill would support organizations who encouraged abortion. “I believe there are many, many residents in the state of New Jersey that are concerned about their tax dollars going to organizations such as Planned Parenthood,” said Sen. Michael J. Doherty, R-Warren, in announcing his opposition to the bill.
Although state money legally cannot pay for abortions, pro-life protesters at the Statehouse today said it doesn’t matter because the some of the centers are run by Planned Parenthood and funds are interchangeable. Of the 29 (out of 58) clinics run by Planned Parenthood, only three provide abortions.
Society needs to be reminded, once again, that women's health is much more than pregnancy and the fetus. It also involves prenatal and postnatal health, as well keeping a woman healthy in the long run. It's also about keeping women's reproductive organs healthy, whether or not they contain a fetus. Abortion is only a small aspect of a woman's health, and the obsessive focus on it blurs all those others aspects that need to be considered as well.
Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), who sponsored the bill, stated that six clinics have closed since Governor Christie cut funding last year. Weinberg stated in Ms. Magazine, "Either you are for underserved women having access to proper health care, primary care physicians and yes, birth control, (or you're not). We are in the second decade of the 21st century. The fight over poor women's access to birth control I thought was finished a few generations ago."It's a great day for the women of New Jersey, but the bill failed to pass with a veto-proof majority. So, there's the possibility that Christie may veto the bill if it makes it passed the state assembly.