TRENTON (LifeSiteNews) — New Jersey Democrat Gov. Mikie Sherrill has unveiled her budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, which allocates $52 million to the abortion industry even as the state faces a $3 billion budget deficit.

Sherrill presented the spending plan on March 10, calling it an “affordability budget, rooted in lowering costs for hardworking families and making state government more accountable to the people we serve.” She claimed she was “cutting the structural deficit nearly in half, and investing in solutions to lower electric bills, protect kids online and expand school-based mental health services, and make it easier to start and grow a small business in New Jersey,” as well as “restructuring how state government delivers for people – bringing more transparency with a Report Card on how hard-earned tax dollars are spent and speeding up the permitting process for businesses.”

Under “Reproductive Health,” the budget calls it a priority that the state “remains a national leader in protecting [so-called] reproductive freedom and expanding access to women’s health care. The Sherrill Administration will continue shielding residents and providers from federal attacks while taking proactive steps to safeguard access to [abortion]. As part of this work, this budget maintains $52 million for family planning services and reproductive health access [i.e., unrestricted abortion]. Of this amount, more than $30 million supports [so-called] care, regardless of an individual’s ability to pay, at clinics in every county, and the $22 million Reproductive Health Access Fund enables the State to respond to emerging threats and expand [so-called] reproductive health care access.”

This detail, which was not mentioned in the press release from the governor’s office, is justified as part of “defend[ing] New Jersey from actions in Washington that undermine constitutional protections and basic rights,” meaning, cuts to the abortion industry’s federal funding.

“Over the last eight years, Planned Parenthood has already taken more than $268 million in New Jersey taxpayer dollars. Now, these same groups are dictating public policy, crafting legislation that singularly benefits them, including five reckless pro-abortion bills that just came out of committee yesterday,” responded New Jersey Right to Life, which noted that almost “59,830 abortions were performed in New Jersey last year alone.”

“Instead of focusing on education, infrastructure, and fiscal responsibility, Governor Sherrill is prioritizing funding abortion providers who end the lives of innocent unborn children and exploit women at a very vulnerable time in their lives, rather than providing the real help, counseling, and support that both mothers and babies desperately need,” said the group’s executive director, Marie Tasy.

Several left-wing states have taken steps to fill the gap in abortion funding left by the actions of the Trump administration. Within weeks of returning to office, President Donald Trump began enforcing the Hyde Amendment, which bans direct federal funding of most abortions; reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which forbids non-governmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars for most abortions abroad; and cut millions in pro-abortion subsidies by freezing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spending. 

Last July, he signed into law his controversial “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (BBB), a wide-ranging policy package that includes a one-year ban on federal tax dollars going through Medicaid to entities that commit abortions for reasons other than rape, incest, or supposed threats to the mother’s life. 

That and other cuts have significantly impacted the bottom line of Planned Parenthood. According to Operation Rescue, 54 abortion facilities shut their doors in 2024, 36 of which were Planned Parenthood locations.

The abortion giant’s most recent annual report revealed that its affiliates across the nation took in $699.3 million in government “health services” reimbursements and grants, accounting for 39 percent of its total revenue during that period. At the same time, the abortion chain committed 392,715 abortions – yet its non-abortive procedures, such as pap tests and cancer screenings, continued to decline as percentages of its overall business.