New Jersey Assembly votes to fund Planned Parenthood to make up lost Title X dollars

The New Jersey Assembly voted 49-21 Monday to direct $9.5 million in taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood in the state for the express purpose of compensating for the money the abortion giant has lost due to the Trump administration’s Protect Life Rule.

The administration finalized the rule in February, requiring “clear financial and physical separation between Title X-funded projects and programs or facilities where abortion is a method of family planning” and bans “referral for abortion as a method of family planning.” It’s projected to cut almost $60 million from the $563.8 million Planned Parenthood received during the most recent fiscal year, provoking multiple lawsuits and leading the organization to withdraw from Title X rather than comply with the new conditions.

In New Jersey (one of the states suing the administration), Planned Parenthood was given most of the $8.9 million the state received in Title X funds last year, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, a loss that would be offset by the new legislation. “We cannot allow even one New Jerseyan to be denied care because of the Trump-Pence gag rule,” declared Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, vice president for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey.

If the Senate also passes the bill next month and Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy signs it into law, the $9.5 million would be added to almost $10.5 billion already allocated at the state level to the abortion giant, New Jersey 101.5 added.