Long time responder, first time poster on this board.  I've got NJA again and finding myself bored.  Anyhow, this has a bee in my bonnet for a variety of different reasons.

New Jersey Gov. Christie Vetoes Planned Parenthood Funding

Last week anti abortion radicals revealed a heavily edited film that they claimed showed a staffer at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, advising a pimp on how to obtain abortion services for his underage prostitutes. As ABC notes, while that video's provenance is yet to be proven, the staffer in question has been fired by Planned Parenthood.

Although Live Action films purported to have sent undercover teams to several different Planned Parenthood clinics across the country, they were only able to find one single staffer whose words they could edit into their propaganda video. Unfortunately, as Fox News reports, though, it seems that that single video may have been enough to cause an unpleasant ripple effect for New Jersey's women.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie used the crest of anti abortion sentiment to justify his veto of a bill that would have provided funding for Planned Parenthood in New Jersey. The bill, proposed by Democrat lawmakers in New Jersey, would have included funding for Pap smears, counseling, and other non-abortion services provided by the non-profit organization.

When Governor Christie was elected in 2009, he did not indicate to the voters in New Jersey that he was against providing women with access to safe and legal abortions. Later, the Catholic lawmaker made it clear that he was personally against abortion, but would not move to legislate abortion.

According to the Gutmacher Institute, which tracks abortion and birth control access in the U.S. and abroad, New Jersey is currently one of the friendliest states for women. There are no parental notification, ultrasound, or other requirements. Just a couple weeks ago, it seems that Christie has changed his mind.

Governor Christie spoke with anti abortion proponents outside the New Jersey State House in Trenton during their rally on the 38th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. He told them that they have an "ally" in him. His presence threw into question his previous decisions to cut finding to Planned Parenthood, and made it clear that his decision to veto Bill A273, which would have expanded Medicaid funding to cover low income women seeking family planning services, was his way of forcing his anti abortion beliefs on the women living in New Jersey.

The Star-Ledger has reported that Christie claimed that his veto of Bill A273 was for budgetary reasons. Although last year his veto saved the State of New Jersey only $7.5 million, this veto is even more questionable. Governor Christie's refusal to allocate only $1.1 million for low income women to access non-abortion family planning services meant forgoing more than $15 million in federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.

And if you haven't seen the video footage in question yet, here's a link:  http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/planned_parenthood_employee_is.html