New Jersey Gov. Christie Vetoes Funding for Crucial Family Planning Services

As a result of naive short-term economic thinking, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has vetoed a bill that would allocate 7.5 million dollars for family planning clinics providing life saving reproductive and sexual health care services to thousands of uninsured women. According to Gov. Christie, his priority is to cut spending and decrease the burden on New Jersey taxpayers. Too bad for Christie, the cost of not having comprehensive reproductive health care services significantly increases the financial burden on both the state and the citizens of New Jersey. To little surprise, Gov. Christie is only thinking about short-term cost without taking into consideration the long-term benefits that family planning services provide the state and local communities.

Not to mention the tremendous burden this veto places on uninsured women in New Jersey who depend on these family planning services to access birth control and preventative health screenings. Need I remind Gov. Christie that preventative health care also decreases the economic burden on the state. But then again, when you only look at economics through a narrow lens, you don’t have the sense to calculate the benefits of investing in your citizens basic reproductive health. (Just a quick note: each public dollar spent on family planning saves three dollars that would otherwise be spent for pregnancy-related care and medical services for newborns.)

Democrats, who currently control the legislature, are debating whether or not to seek an override of the Governors veto, which would require 54 votes in the assembly and 27 votes in the Senate. “My inclination is that I expect to work with the Senate to put these bills back up for veto overrides,’’ said Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex). “These bills are vitally important to women’s health care, children, our economy and working class New Jerseyans.” Amen Sheila. The answer to a recession is most definitely NOT to cut vital family planning services that keep people healthy and working.

Despite Gov. Christie’s “assurance” that this veto is based primarily on budgetary concerns, the New Jersey Right to Life, along with several anti-choice Republicans in the assembly and senate, are using this veto as momentum to fuel their ideological battle against reproductive health care. Marie Tasy, executive director for New Jersey Right to Life, had this to say, “The taxpayers of New Jersey are under no obligation to fund the radical and failed social agenda of Planned Parenthood.”

Last time I checked, the “radical” and “failed” social agenda of Planned Parenthood provides life saving health care services to thousands of underinsured and uninsured New Jersey citizens every year. Not to mention the fact that taxpayers don’t get to cherry pick where their money goes. If I had it my way, our tax dollars wouldn’t be spent on bankrupt anti-choice abstinence only programs, irresponsible military spending, and a variety of other useless right-wing ideological agendas. You know, programs that do more harm than good. Family Planning, on the other hand, has sustainable economic benefits on top of the social advantages provided through reproductive health care services.