Chris Christie Vetoes Women's Health Funding.... for the Fourth Time
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Fourth time’s the charm? Apparently New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is so passionate about blocking funding for birth control and lifesaving cancer screenings that he vetoed funding for essential women’s health services for the fourth time.
In 2010, Governor Christie eliminated a state budget line item that provided affordable access to reproductive health care to more than 136,000 patients under the guise of fiscal responsibility. He has since denied every effort by the state legislature to restore these funds, forcing six family planning health centers to close as a result. Clearly, Christie missed the important fact that every dollar invested in family planning programs saves the government $3.74. But it’s not just Christie — Mitt Romney has also pledged to reduce government spending by eliminating family planning programs and federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
In New Jersey, 385,500 women need publicly funded birth control services, which could cost $5,782,500 – $19,275,000 MONTHLY. Add that to the fact the state already ranks eighth for the number of unintended pregnancies, and cutting family planning (and refusing to restore the funds) does not seem to be very responsible.
The reality is, what’s happening to women’s health in New Jersey is exactly what Romney would do to women across the country if he’s elected president. Romney has vowed to end Title X, the federal family planning program that provides preventive health care for more than five million people a year.
No need to look any further: if you want to know what the country would look like under a Romney presidency, you only have to look to Christie’s actions in New Jersey.
