Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin Emphasizes the Need for Affordable Health Care
There are 336,000 Wisconsin women in need of affordable, preventive health care including cancer screens, mammogram referrals, birth control and STD testing and treatment.
MADISON – Today marks the first day of the 2016 legislative session in Wisconsin, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin (PPAWI) is calling on lawmakers to recognize the urgent need for affordable health care throughout our state.
“As the state’s largest, most trusted nonprofit health care provider, each day we see the need for improved health care access, and we call on members of the Wisconsin Legislature to begin the 2016 session by addressing the immediate and significant health care needs of Wisconsin women and families,” said Tanya Atkinson, executive director of PPAWI. “It is time to stop the divisive rhetoric based on incorrect and fraudulent information that has contributed to poor health access, violence and dangerous public policy.”
According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are 336,000 Wisconsin women in need of affordable, preventive health care including cancer screens, mammogram referrals, birth control and STD testing and treatment. Thanks to the network of community based health care providers, including Planned Parenthood, 87,000 of those women receive essential, preventive health care. These providers avert over 21,000 pregnancies and 7,200 abortions each year.
“For 80 years, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has been proud to provide women, men and young people with the essential health care they rely on. Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our patients,” said Atkinson. “Our elected leaders can show they care about the health and wellbeing of Wisconsin women and their family members by stopping the rhetoric and enhancing health care access for all Wisconsinites.”
By reducing unintended pregnancies and other negative reproductive outcomes, community based providers like Planned Parenthood helped save the state and federal governments $171.5 million in 2010. According to the Guttmacher Institute, without these affordable and accessible reproductive health services, the U.S. unintended pregnancy rate would rise by 60 percent. Without Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, thousands of women, men and their families would have no other place to turn.
“We invite our elected leaders to join with us in recognizing that every single person, no matter who they are, how much money they make or where they come from, should be able to access needed health care services,” said Atkinson. “At Planned Parenthood, we care deeply about the men and women in Wisconsin and look forward to protecting and expanding access to affordable health care to ensure Wisconsin remains safe, healthy and strong.”
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin is the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. PPAWI engages in legislative and educational activity and works to elect candidates to office that support these goals
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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