Payne, PPMNJ Address Impact of Defunding Planned Parenthood on NJ Women

Newark, N.J. – Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10) hosted a press conference to discuss the impact of defunding Planned Parenthood on women’s health in New Jersey. He was joined by Roslyn Rogers Collins, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey; Joseph Alifante, President & CEO of the New Jersey Family Planning League; Rebeca Lopez, Center Manager of  Ironbound Health Center; Lisa Block, Senior Program Officer at the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey; and Zenobia Robinson, a PPMNJ patient.

The press conference came ahead of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, scheduled for February 2, to override President Obama’s veto of legislation to defund Planned Parenthood and repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“The health care of millions of American women, including tens of thousands of New Jersey women, is under assault,” said Congressman Payne, Jr. “Next week, House Republicans will again vote to strip Planned Parenthood of its funding. For many women, Planned Parenthood clinics are often one of their few affordable, comprehensive health care options. These women rely on Planned Parenthood for family planning services and life-saving care, like cervical cancer screenings and STD testing. I stand with Planned Parenthood against this reckless assault on women’s health, and I call on Republicans to abandon their efforts to disrupt access to affordable health care. New Jersey women deserve better.”

“Over the past 88 years Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey has provided safe, affordable and quality reproductive health care services to over 1 million people in this community,” said Roslyn Rogers Collins, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey. “For many, the only medical professional they see is the one they see when they visit us.  In fact, nationally 6 in 10 women who receive care from a women’s health center serving low income communities consider this their main source of care. Four in ten women consider these providers their only source of care.”

“The New Jersey Family Planning League Title X family planning project supports a network of provider agencies, a diverse and vital component of the state’s public health infrastructure for low-income women, men, and adolescents,” said Joseph Alifante, President and CEO of the New Jersey Family Planning League. “Planned Parenthood is an essential component of New Jersey’s publicly funded family planning programs, which provide quality, affordable reproductive health services for thousands of New Jerseyans each year. Any efforts to defund provider agencies in the service delivery system could be devastating to the family planning program in New Jersey.”

Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve H.R.3762 - Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015, legislation that would repeal key provisions of the Affordable Care Act and strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood for the 2016 fiscal year. President Obama vetoed the legislation, citing its detrimental impact on health care in the United States. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would result in 22 million Americans losing their health coverage after 2017.

Prohibiting federal funding through Medicaid for Planned Parenthood in 2016 would leave millions of American women without key preventive health services—including birth control, life-saving cancer screenings, well-woman exams, and advice for family planning. Planned Parenthood health centers play an irreplaceable role in the U.S. health care system, including in New Jersey. In 2013, Planned Parenthood provided nearly 16,000 pap tests and nearly 34,000 breast exams in New Jersey.

Congressman Payne, Jr. also called on House Republicans to disband their select subcommittee to investigate Planned Parenthood, pointing to the indictment this week of two individuals involved in secretly recording Planned Parenthood in an effort to damage the group. Planned Parenthood was cleared of accusations of misconduct. 

###