Too pissed off to think up a witty title.
For immediate release May 18, 2011
Contact: Amanda Harrington (414) 803-9556
Finance Committee Votes to Dismantle Family Planning in the State of Wisconsin
This afternoon, all Republicans on the Joint Committee on Finance voted to dismantle Wisconsin’s family planning program by restricting the ability of most of Wisconsin’s women’s health centers to qualify for state funds. This restriction includes women’s health providers like Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin-the state’s oldest, largest, and most trusted reproductive health care provider.
Republicans on the Committee also endangered Wisconsin’s entire BadgerCare family planning program, which provides basic health care to 60,000 women and families and is reported to save the state of Wisconsin $140 million by preventing untended pregnancies in 2008 alone.
Today’s vote will decimate the family planning network throughout Wisconsin, leaving tens of thousands without access to preventive care. If patients do not have access to prevention, Wisconsin will see an increase in unintended pregnancies, the spread of STDs, undetected and untreated cervical and breast cancer cases and poorer health outcomes for women, infants and children.
• FACT: The funds at issue can only be used for family planning services, including annual exams, cancer screenings, Pap tests and birth control.
• FACT: According to the Guttmacher Institute, every $1 spent on family planning services in Wisconsin saves the state $3.74 in Medicaid-related costs.
• FACT: Planned Parenthood health centers that receive state family planning funding do not provide abortion care.
• FACT: Publicly Funded Family Planning Centers, including Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, help prevent approximately 10,800 unintended pregnancies in Wisconsin each year.
• FACT: Over 97 percent of patients come to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin health centers for family planning and prevention services.
Statement by Tanya Atkinson, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin:
“Today’s vote brings us one step closer to a very grim picture for women’s health. If this dangerous proposal stands, there will be more unintended pregnancies, more untreated STDs that can result in infertility, and fewer cancer screenings. More women will live with undiagnosed cancer until it’s too late. This is an attack on uninsured women and their families, and it is repugnant.
“Investing in women’s health and ensuring healthy women and families for Wisconsin should be a non-partisan priority. Wisconsin’s family planning centers are what truly make the difference for healthy women and families in Wisconsin. Planned Parenthood is a crucial part of that network.
“Planned Parenthood and other women’s health providers play a vital role in women’s lives ― from lifesaving tests for cancer and HIV, to helping them plan their families. For more than 73,000 working women and men who don’t have access to employer-sponsored health insurance, Planned Parenthood provides the care they need to stay healthy.
“This is an unfair attack on thousands of Wisconsin women and their health care providers and it must be stopped.”
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in Your Community
In 2010, at 27 health centers across Wisconsin, PPWI provided health care education and services to over 73,000 patients.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin also provides education for over 8,000 teens, parents, professionals and young adults.
source also has testimonies from people who have benefited from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin
Contact: Amanda Harrington (414) 803-9556
Finance Committee Votes to Dismantle Family Planning in the State of Wisconsin
This afternoon, all Republicans on the Joint Committee on Finance voted to dismantle Wisconsin’s family planning program by restricting the ability of most of Wisconsin’s women’s health centers to qualify for state funds. This restriction includes women’s health providers like Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin-the state’s oldest, largest, and most trusted reproductive health care provider.
Republicans on the Committee also endangered Wisconsin’s entire BadgerCare family planning program, which provides basic health care to 60,000 women and families and is reported to save the state of Wisconsin $140 million by preventing untended pregnancies in 2008 alone.
Today’s vote will decimate the family planning network throughout Wisconsin, leaving tens of thousands without access to preventive care. If patients do not have access to prevention, Wisconsin will see an increase in unintended pregnancies, the spread of STDs, undetected and untreated cervical and breast cancer cases and poorer health outcomes for women, infants and children.
• FACT: The funds at issue can only be used for family planning services, including annual exams, cancer screenings, Pap tests and birth control.
• FACT: According to the Guttmacher Institute, every $1 spent on family planning services in Wisconsin saves the state $3.74 in Medicaid-related costs.
• FACT: Planned Parenthood health centers that receive state family planning funding do not provide abortion care.
• FACT: Publicly Funded Family Planning Centers, including Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, help prevent approximately 10,800 unintended pregnancies in Wisconsin each year.
• FACT: Over 97 percent of patients come to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin health centers for family planning and prevention services.
Statement by Tanya Atkinson, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin:
“Today’s vote brings us one step closer to a very grim picture for women’s health. If this dangerous proposal stands, there will be more unintended pregnancies, more untreated STDs that can result in infertility, and fewer cancer screenings. More women will live with undiagnosed cancer until it’s too late. This is an attack on uninsured women and their families, and it is repugnant.
“Investing in women’s health and ensuring healthy women and families for Wisconsin should be a non-partisan priority. Wisconsin’s family planning centers are what truly make the difference for healthy women and families in Wisconsin. Planned Parenthood is a crucial part of that network.
“Planned Parenthood and other women’s health providers play a vital role in women’s lives ― from lifesaving tests for cancer and HIV, to helping them plan their families. For more than 73,000 working women and men who don’t have access to employer-sponsored health insurance, Planned Parenthood provides the care they need to stay healthy.
“This is an unfair attack on thousands of Wisconsin women and their health care providers and it must be stopped.”
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in Your Community
In 2010, at 27 health centers across Wisconsin, PPWI provided health care education and services to over 73,000 patients.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin also provides education for over 8,000 teens, parents, professionals and young adults.
source also has testimonies from people who have benefited from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin