Wisconsin: Democrats Blast GOP Plan to Cut Funds for Family Planning Clinics

At a news conference on Tuesday, several Assembly Democrats slammed a Republican proposal to eliminate state funding of privately owned family planning clinics. The plan, included in the budget approved by the Republican-controlled Assembly, will limit women's access to birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and STD treatment and testing, the lawmakers said.

Thirty-two clinics mostly in central and northern Wisconsin counties would be forced to close, cut services or come up with private funds to make up for the loss, said Chris Taylor, a Planned Parenthood lobbyist. In all but one case, the clinics are the only ones in their counties, she said.

More than 31,000 patients use the clinics said Taylor, whose group runs 10 of the clinics. The facilities do not provide abortions. "It would be difficult to impossible to meet the current need if we lost those state funds," she said.

Under the plan, family planning clinics that rely on federal money would not be affected. County-run clinics could receive state funding provided they do not give pregnant women any options for abortions.

Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, who attended the news conference, denounced the proposal, saying it would effectively dismantle a network of female health care providers.

A committee is meeting to work out the differences between the budgets approved by the Assembly and the Democratic-controlled Senate, which would allow the clinics to continue receiving state funds. The family planning issue has yet to be taken up.

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