Do you want proof that elections matter? Look no further than New Jersey, where new pro-life Governor Chris Christie (R), elected in a stunning upset in the fall of 2009, was able to keep funds for Planned Parenthood and similar organizations out of the state's latest budget by standing fast to his convictions. Now, after an unsuccessful attempt by members of the state Senate to reinstate the funds, Planned Parenthood has announced the closure of one clinic and there are reports in the news of other possible closures.

Pro-Life Governor Chris Christie

When Christie proposed his first state budget in March of 2010, noticeably absent was $7.5 million that had previously been set aside for "family planning" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/18/10). Opponents labeled this cut "insensitive" and "economically foolish," arguing that the state stood to gain $9 in federal funding for every $1 the state spent (Today's Sunbeam, NJ, 6/28/10).

Christie, who took office with the state facing a huge projected deficit, simply pointed out, "I don't believe that is a priority in a budget where you have to cut $11 billion" (Gloucester County Times, 6/25/2010).

Democrats in the legislature voted to restore funding in June. Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono said, "We can't allow women's health to be held hostage by ideology... Let's have a little compassion here." She cited the familiar pro-abortion defense that these clinics not only provide "family planning," but also cancer screenings and other preventative health services.

Gov. Christie responded that women could get the same services from other clinics and federally qualified health centers around the state (Today's Sunbeam, 6/28/10, Gloucester County Times, 7/24/10, Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/28/10).
Volunteers from groups like Planned Parenthood manned phone banks to try to generate opposition to the cuts (Courier Post, 9/17/10). Supporters of the funding scrambled to find money for the programs in other parts of the budget.

In the end, though, they were unsuccessful in trying to line up sufficient votes to override the governor's veto. Seven Republicans who had voted for the bill reinstituting the funds rallied behind the governor in the override vote.

Before the week was out, Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey (PPSNJ) announced that it was closing its clinic in Cherry Hill, due to the cuts. The Burlington County health department is also expected to end "family planning services" November 30 in Browns Mills and Mount Holly (Courier Post Online, 9/22/10). Planned Parenthood of Greater Northern New Jersey indicated it was facing a 20 percent cut in its budget (Daily Record, 9/26/10).

While the Planned Parenthood clinic in Cherry Hill was not the infamous Cherry Hill abortion mill which does so many a year, it did do abortion referrals (Washington Examiner, 9/23/10). Joyce Kurzweil, executive vice president of PPSNJ, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Christie's decision meant a loss of $160,000 out of her group's $3 million plus budget, and she said it would probably lead to the reduction of staff and hours at other PPSNJ locations (Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/23/10).

All told, there are five different Planned Parenthood affiliates and 29 clinics or "health centers" in New Jersey. No word yet on how this might be affect any of these other affiliates or clinics.

Planned Parenthood and its political allies have tried to argue that family planning money was untainted because it did not go directly for abortion. But pro-lifers pointed out from the beginning of the debate that even if state money doesn't directly pay for the abortion, it can help to keep a clinic open by helping to cover rent, salaries, and upkeep.

That the funding system had been abused was made evident by three U.S. inspector general reports that surfaced in August 2010 saying that New Jersey's Department of Human Services had improperly billed the federal government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for 160,000 prescriptions worth $2.2 million from 2001 to 2005.

According to one of the audits, "During our visits to family planning clinics throughout the state, many providers (especially Planned Parenthood providers) stated that they billed all claims to Medicaid as 'family planning'" (Gloucester County Times, 8/14/10).

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