Newly sworn-in New Jersey State Sen. Michael Testa (R) voted against a budget bill that would spend $9.5 million for family planning services, much of which would fund Planned Parenthood.
A press release at Testa’s office notes the senator was just sworn into office Thursday.
One of his first votes was on the bill in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee that would grant funding to Planned Parenthood for family planning services.
New Jersey Democrats proposed the state fill the void to replace the federal funding Planned Parenthood voluntarily abandoned when it refused to comply with the Trump administration’s rule that enforces federal law that marks a clear boundary between abortion and family planning.
Planned Parenthood and its political and media allies, however, have spread the narrative the abortion provider was “forced out” of federal Title X grants.
“As the father of three young children, I’m proudly pro-life and don’t believe our tax dollars should be used to support organizations whose primary focus is providing abortions,” said Testa. “Presumably Planned Parenthood would be one of the largest recipients of this funding. While Planned Parenthood doesn’t have any locations in our district, we do have FQHCs [Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers] that serve our residents which would not be impacted by this legislation.”
FQHCs do not provide or refer patients for abortions.
The state Senate budget committee, however, passed the bill providing the family planning funding, reported NorthJersey.com. The legislation will have to be passed by the full state Senate before it heads to Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy, who supports it.
New Jersey Right to Life is fighting against the funding bill.
“The state of New Jersey should not be using taxpayer money to fund a private nonprofit organization,” Right to Life Executive Director Marie Tasy said. “It’s important to note that Planned Parenthood opted out of the Title X program because they refused to comply with the regulations that they physically and financially separate their abortion business from family planning services.”
In November, Testa won the Senate seat formerly held by Democrat Bob Andrzejczak. In his press release, he observed the continued “misguided priorities” of the Democrats.
“From a larger fiscal perspective, with Governor Murphy raising spending by billions and demanding massive tax increases year after year, I don’t believe this is something we can afford,” the senator said. “Along with their misguided sanctuary state policies, spending millions on abortion providers is another example of the misguided priorities of Trenton Democrats.”