New Jersey Senate Forces Taxpayers to Give $7.5 Million to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Feb 2, 2018   |   1:53PM   |   Trenton, NJ

New Jersey residents could be forced to give their hard-earned tax dollars to the nation’s largest abortion chain for the first time in eight years.

The state Senate passed legislation Thursday to send $7.5 million to Planned Parenthood and other groups that do abortions in the state, NorthJersey.com reports. The legislation now moves to the state Assembly. Pro-abortion Gov. Phil Murphy promised to sign it.

The bill would reverse decisions by former Gov. Chris Christie to block $7.5 million tax dollars to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business. Christie, who is pro-life, vetoed Planned Parenthood funding numerous times and redirected the family planning funds to federally qualified community health centers.

“We’re going to begin to reverse the tide that we have seen during the previous eight years and work to improve access to family planning services for women,” said Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, a pro-abortion Democrat, on Thursday.

Christine Sadovy, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood in New Jersey, praised the move. She said the abortion chain had to shut down six facilities in the past eight years because of the funding cuts.

She and pro-abortion lawmakers claimed women lost access to vital health care during those eight years – a claim refuted by numerous sources.

A state Department of Health spokeswoman said non-abortion family planning clinics, hospitals and other medical facilities received tens of millions of dollars during the past eight years to offer cancer screenings, prevention programs, STD testing and more to low-income women.

Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, said federally qualified health centers in the state received funding to serve low-income women and provide more comprehensive health care than Planned Parenthood.

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“It is both irresponsible and unconscionable that Senate and Assembly leaders and Governor Murphy are moving full steam ahead to force New Jersey taxpayers to fund Planned Parenthood, an organization that  is currently under investigation by the FBI for the illegal sale of baby body parts,” Tasy told the local news.

In December, the U.S. Department of Justice said it is investigating whether the abortion chain illegally sold aborted baby body parts.

Tasy said pro-abortion legislators are pandering to their “extreme base” by pushing through this legislation. She said her organization delivered petitions signed by hundreds of state residents to the Senate in opposition to the bill.

There are many reasons why the state defunded Planned Parenthood. Several years ago, the abortion group was found engaging in fraudulent Medicaid activity in New Jersey.

The U.S. Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services uncovered a consistent problem with New Jersey-based family planning clinics run by the Planned Parenthood abortion business. A government audit found that they were improperly billing Medicaid for services that did not qualify as family planning.

An initial audit revealed New Jersey improperly received federal reimbursement at the enhanced 90 percent rate for 160,955 prescription drug claims that were billed as family planning, but did not qualify as family planning services. A letter from the Inspector General to New Jersey officials recommended that New Jersey repay $2,219,746 to the federal government.

The state eventually did return the money to the federal government.