The call was about vote to restore funding for family planning clinics
State Sen. Loretta Weinberg made an unexpected phone call to Gov. Chris Christie during the "Ask the Governor" radio show on New Jersey 101.5-FM. TRENTON — The fight between Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic lawmakers over his cuts to grants for family planning clinics was renewed Thursday night when the most vocal defender of women's health services — Sen. Loretta Weinberg — made a surprise call to the governor's monthly radio show.
On New Jersey 101.5's "Ask the Governor" show, Weinberg (D-Bergen), one of the bill's sponsors, informed Christie about Senate President Stephen Sweeney's decision to call another vote Monday on her bill to restore $7.45 million for the clinics.
"I hope this time around you will think about women's access to health care," Weinberg said.
Christie responded curtly, "Excellent, thank you very much, I will consider it when it comes."
The civility disappeared when the call ended.
"I don't think it's been in the best interest of the state for Sen. Weinberg to be around the state mischaracterizing women's access to health care," Christie said, saying women can get family planning services from other clinics and hospitals.
"This has become a political issue for Sen. Weinberg," he said. "She likes to throw around the political issues as much as anybody. I’ll decide what I think is the most responsible way to spend money."
Citing a tight budget, Christie eliminated the family planning clinic grants last year and later vetoed a bill (A3273) that would have restored them.
With this week’s revelation from state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff that the state expects $511 million more in revenues through June 2012 than anticipated in February, Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said he "welcomed" the opportunity of restoring the lost grant funding.
"Last year the governor told us there was no funding available for women’s health care in the budget. We knew then as we know now, it was a false claim used to mask right-wing ideology,’’ Sweeney said in a prepared statement. "There is simply no reason why $7.5 million of that funding can’t be used to close this gaping hole in women’s health care."
On last night’s radio show, the host, Eric Scott, pressed Christie, saying it was a relatively small amount of money, and asked whether the cutting funding was less about the budget and more ideological. Christie has stated he is anti-abortion. While a handful of the clinics provide abortions, the state prohibits them from using the money for that use.
Christie replied: "It’s about how we spend our money. . .For me it’s about the appropriate fiscal management of the state."
Six of 58 family planning clinics have closed since the state eliminated the grants, according to a recent report by the Family Planning Association of New Jersey. The clinics served 131,000 patients in 2010, providing routine gynecological exams, birth control products, health, cancer and sexually transmitted disease screenings, HIV and pregnancy testing and pre-pregnancy counseling, according to the report.
By Susan K. Livio and Ginger Gibson/The Star-Ledger