Photos show Liberia’s health clinics shuttered after US aid cuts

SARWORLOR, Liberia (AP) — As cuts to U.S. aid take hold, medical services in Liberia are feeling the pinch.

Clinics, undernourished children and overwhelmed families are grappling with the sudden loss of support that once funded health care, medicine and basic services across the country.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Gbango Kemu, 36, who got pregnant after failing to get access to contraceptives, sits with her daughter Garmah at their house in Bong County, Liberia, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Viola K. Major, a midwife who runs maternal "waiting homes" in Bong County, Liberia, which were partly funded by USAID, stands in the vestibule of one of the homes, on Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

A Liberian flag hangs outside of a school in Bong County, Liberia Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Roseline Phay, 32, stands with her daughter Pauline outside their home in Bong County, Liberia, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Irene A Kerkulah, the health officer in charge at the Palala Clinic, looks at an almost-empty shelf at the clinic that once held contraceptives, in Bong County, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

The C.B. Dunbar Hospital in Gbarnga, Bong County, Liberia, stands empty, Friday June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Adakemue Kollai, who worked implementing one of USAID's programs in Liberia, stands in front of an ambulance provided by USAID at the Phebe Hospital in Bong County, Liberia, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Wide view of Monrovia, Liberia, from the top of the Ducor Hotel, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

A young girl walks by an empty community meeting room in Bong County, Liberia, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

A lone person walks on a dirt road in Bong County, Liberia, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Morris Wamah, the director for the Liberian Initiative for Development Services, who worked implementing USAID funding in Liberian land reform, looks at a map of Bong County in Gbarnga, Liberia, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Alice Togbah, a community health worker, looks at a log of residents she provides health services to, in Bong County, Liberia, Saturday, June 14, 2025.(AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Roseline Phay, 32, looks at pictures of her first daughter, Promise, who she sent to Monrovia to stay with family in hopes of getting her a better education, Saturday, June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

An almost-empty shelf, that once held contraceptives for patients, is seen at the Palala Clinic in Bong County, Liberia, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

Gbango Kemu, 36, who got pregnant after failing to get access to contraceptives, sits with her daughter Garmah at their house in Bong County, Liberia, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)