Democrats concede fight will be tough to restore N.J. family planning funds

    Some Democrats in the New Jersey legislature say they know they’re fighting an uphill battle to save $7.5 million in family planning spending. Gov. Christie has vetoed a measure to restore the funds.

    Some Democrats in the New Jersey legislature say they know they’re fighting an uphill battle to save $7.5 million in family planning spending. Gov. Christie has vetoed a measure to restore the funds.

    The governor did not include money for the women’s health and family planning centers in the state budget and rejected the bill lawmakers approved to provide state funding.

    Assemblywoman Linda Stender is hopeful the override effort will succeed.

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    “In the end this is going to be a question of courage and a question of conscience,” she said. “Do you believe women should have access to birth control? Do you believe that women should be able to plan for their families? Or do you believe in a public policy of barefoot and pregnant?”

    Assembly Republican leader Alex DeCroce does not expect any members of his party to vote for the override.

    “We just can’t afford these excessive amounts of money when there are other federal programs out there that are doing these things,” he said.

    Six of the seven Republicans in the Senate who voted to restore the funding are now indicating they won’t support an override. That would leave Democrats without enough votes to succeed.

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