Planned Parenthood is closing doors at its Cherry Hill center in Southern New Jersey as the result of Gov. Chris Christie’s line-item veto, which cut off $7.5 million in state taxpayer funding of the organization, according to LifeNews.com. However, the governor’s office has confirmed to The Examiner that state-funded abortions will continue to be provided, contrary to claims by Planned Parenthood.
Christie has personally donated to Planned Parenthood in the past, so don’t listen to Parenthood of Southern New Jersey President Lynn Brown, who told the Cherry Hill Courier Post that “We all know it’s strictly ideological.” In fact, the clinic being closed doesn’t even perform abortions, although it does make referrals to Planned Parenthood abortion clinics.
When Christie first proposed the cuts he did so citing “unprecedented financial difficulties,” and then went so far as to assure citizens that “[r]eproductive health care services will continue to be available in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties, including Planned Parenthood clinics, local health department clinics, standing free clinics, and hospital-based clinics.”
Christie’s deputy press secretary Kevin Roberts told The Examiner, “From the beginning when we had to veto the $7.5 million funding restoration, it was purely on fiscal grounds. We just don’t have the money.”
Asked whether this cut meant no more state funds for abortions outside of Planned Parenthood, Roberts said it would not. “Women’s reproductive services, including abortions, will continue to be funded by a mix of state and federal funding.”
