Teaneck's League of Women Voters Urges Members to Support Health Bill

Teaneck's League of Women Voters, along with women's health advocates around the state, are calling on state senators to override Gov. Chris Christie's veto of the Women's Health Care Bill in a vote set for Monday.  The bill allocates $7.5 million in funding to clinics that provide family planning and other health care for low-income women.

Doris Long Thurber, of the township's League of Women Voters chapter, said she planned to call senators who first supported the bill, but have since said they won't vote against Christie's Aug. 23 veto.  In a blog post, the Teaneck LWV also urged its members to contact lawmakers.

Six state senators, Diane Allen, (R-Burlington), Christopher "Kip" Bateman, (R-Somerset), Andrew R. Ciesla, (R-Ocean), Christopher Connors, (R-Ocean), Sean T. Kean, (R-Monmouth), and Robert Singer, (R-Ocean), supported the bill when it passed the senate in June, but have since said they would not vote to override the veto. 

Christie and fellow Republicans have said the state can't afford the bill's $7.5 million price tag.  State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, (D-Teaneck), however, said surplus funds from a state employee prescription drug program could cover the bill's costs, a claim the Christie Administration disputes.

Weinberg, the bill's primary sponsor, and Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney held a press conference Thursday to criticize the veto.

"This is about poor women's access to health care and primary care. It's about HIV testing; it's about cervical cancer screening and mammogram screening; it's about access to birth control and about pre-natal care for pregnant women," Weinberg said in an e-mail Sunday morning.

Last year, Planned Parenthood clinics in Hackensack and Englewood have served more than 8,000 county residents seeking a range of care, including breast exams and Pap smears, McNerney said.

A rally outside the State House supporting the override is planned for noon Monday, with the vote scheduled at 1 p.m.