(TRENTON) – Assembly Majority Conference Leader Gordon M. Johnson (D-Bergen) released the following statement Wednesday following the budget hearing on the Department of Health and Senior Services:
“Gov. Christie continues to shamelessly deplete resources for women’s health care, with little regard to the women who rely on these services.
“Since Gov. Christie took office, he has eliminated what had been an annual $7.5 million appropriation for grants for women’s health care services. These cuts have forced centers to scale back and others to close, jeopardizing the health of thousands of women. Not everyone has the luxury of private health care, yet the governor continues to cut at the expense of poor and working class women and families. This doesn’t affect just women; it affects entire families.
“The number of women receiving family planning services has steadily dropped as a result. In 2010, 125,000 women in New Jersey were applying for and receiving these services. That number has dwindled each year and is expected to drop to 72,000 by next year. Given this rate, I dread to imagine how many fewer women will have access to life-saving care by the end of this governor’s term.
“If the governor’s intentions were to boost his national credentials with such backward thinking, shame on him. A lot has been said about the War on Women. It’s clear which side the governor is on.”