With federal funding at risk, abortion-rights supporters turn to state, private donors

New Jersey lawmakers this week renewed state funding to protect access to reproductive health services in New Jersey, while private fundraising for abortion has soared — both trends abortion-rights advocates here hope will offset federal funding cuts Congress approved.

Legislators in Trenton passed a $58.8 billion budget Monday that contained $52.3 million for family planning care; staff recruitment, retention and training for reproductive health care providers; security improvements; and technology upgrades for abortion clinics, among other reproductive health care services.

While the budget contained other cuts and diversions that drove advocates and even some members of Gov. Phil Murphy’s cabinet to protest, lawmakers maintained the same level of state funding for reproductive health care as they’ve allocated in recent years, said Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, executive director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey.

She applauded the support, calling reproductive health care “a fundamental right and a critical component of both public health and the state’s economic vitality.”

“With mounting attacks from a president and Congress who are hostile toward reproductive rights, threatening access to reproductive health care including abortion, we urge New Jersey elected officials to continue to prioritize reproductive health by working to offset future funding shortfalls resulting from federal attacks and by continuing to implement policies and programs that overcome barriers to accessing care,” Wojtowicz said.

The federal budget bill passed by the Senate Tuesday and the House Thursday prohibits federal Medicaid funding from going to large health care clinics that provide abortions, effectively defunding Planned Parenthood clinics.

The Hyde Amendment bars the use of federal funds for abortion with a few exceptions, but Planned Parenthood clinics rely heavily on Medicaid funding, not for abortions, but instead to provide standard reproductive health care at low to no cost, including contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted infections and cancer screenings.

The cuts, consequently, could jeopardize health care for 1.1 million patients and drive almost 200 Planned Parenthood clinics to close nationally, Wojtowicz said.

In New Jersey, Planned Parenthood staff see about 133,000 patients a year, and a third of them rely on Medicaid, she added.

“There will definitely be an impact in New Jersey,” she said.

The bill will “gut access to reproductive health care,” agreed Kelly Baden, vice president for public policy at the Guttmacher Institute.

“Medicaid is not a luxury — it’s a lifeline,” Baden said in a statement. “It ensures access to essential care, including sexual and reproductive health services, for millions of people. Slashing this program to finance tax cuts for the wealthy is not just wrong — it’s cruel.”

New Jersey’s Congressional delegation split on the bill along party lines, with Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker and the eight Democratic Congress members voting against it and Republican Reps. Jeff Van Drew, Tom Kean Jr., and Chris Smith voting in favor.

The bill now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.

Private funding up 

As threats to public funding for reproductive health care have grown, private fundraising for reproductive health services has risen.

The New Jersey Abortion Access Fund, a volunteer-run nonprofit that pays for abortions for women who can’t afford them, has seen its donations jump 61% in the past year, said Quadira Coles, the fund’s board president.

Donations have soared more than 900% since 2022, Coles added. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion in a landmark ruling known as Dobbs, clearing the way for states to restrict or ban the procedure.

The fund gave out $39,000 to 145 patients in 2021, and by 2024, it helped 1,140 patients by funding $427,954 in care, Coles said.

Planned Parenthood also privately fundraises and has similarly seen a spike in support, Wojtowicz said.

“After Dobbs, there were a lot of supporters, volunteers, and donors who wanted to help, and one of the ways that the affiliates have been trying to funnel that energy is to patient assistance — helping patients get to New Jersey, providing them lodging when they’re here, or helping them have a hot meal while they’re traveling from Alabama or Louisiana,” Wojtowicz said.

In other states where abortion is restricted, some donors have stopped or scaled back their giving, fearing they could be held criminally or civilly liable for aiding and abetting abortion, Coles said.

That hasn’t happened in New Jersey — yet, she said.

New Jersey policymakers passed a law in 2022 barring the extradition of people involved in reproductive health services to other states that have restricted or criminalized abortion.

But abortion foes “are getting more creative” in their fight, Coles said.

“The more we do good, the more they find ways to attack our work,” she said.

Uncertainty persists because of the coming general election too, she added.

New Jersey voters will pick a new governor to replace Murphy, a term-limited Democrat who has codified abortion rights statewide. U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who supports abortion rights, and former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, are running to replace him. Ciattarelli has said he is “pro-choice … up to 20 weeks,” but Sherrill last week warned that Ciattarelli is a “Trump lackey” who would threaten women’s rights on multiple fronts.

“Whoever becomes the governor next could really change the abortion-access landscape here,” Coles said.

This story has been updated to correct the amount of state funding for reproductive health care in the budget.