Planned Parenthood Wisconsin Closes Four Clinics Due To State Funding Cuts

Today Planned Parenthood is announcing the closing of four of its family planning health centers in Wisconsin. Thanks to the state legislature revoking taxpayer funding for abortions, it has decided to close its clinic in Chippewa Falls. Three other cities in Wisconsin will also see clinics closing, according to reports.

According to a statement from Planned Parenthood, the closing are a direct result of the state legislature's elimination of funding for the organization in the state's last budget cycle.

The clinics in Beaver Dam, Johnson Creek, Chippewa Falls and Shawano, which serve approximately 2,000 patients, will close between April and July of this year. Planned Parenthood said that it is the only provider of reproductive health care in each of those four communities.

Patients of the Chippewa Falls center were notified last week, and the center is expected to close in mid-May. Patients will be referred to Planned Parenthood of Eau Claire for treatment.

Barbara Lyons, Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life, is elated by the news.

"Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is the state's largest abortion provider and, nationally, refers over 90 percent of the pregnant women it sees to abortion clinics," she said. "The closure of four feeders to Planned Parenthood's three Wisconsin abortion clinics is excellent news."

However, some are seeing things from a different perspective.

"Women are going to have to drive even longer distances just to get basic health care like wellness exams, cancer screenings and birth control," said Deb Bonilla, vice president of patient services for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. "We are doing all we can to ensure that women get the care they need, but in some instances the resulting barriers to care will make health care access very difficult."

Gov. Scott Walker (R) and the Republican-controlled state legislature passed a budget in 2011 that eliminates public funding for low-income and uninsured patients seeking reproductive health care at Planned Parenthood, the largest provider in the state, because some of its clinics offer abortions. The budget cuts defunded nine family planning health centers, which provide birth control, cervical and breast cancer screenings, annual exams, STD testing and treatment, Well Women Exams, pregnancy testing, and HIV testing.

Planned Parenthood said it plans to continue providing those health services in its 23 remaining centers across Wisconsin.