Planned Parenthood, Family Planning Clinics in Wisconsin Face Federal Cuts
Big Beautiful Bill cuts federal funds for contraception, cancer screening, STD care.
Planned Parenthood clinic. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Family planning clinics in Wisconsin are facing funding cuts under the massive law signed by President Donald Trump last week.
For decades, another law known as the Hyde Amendment already banned using federal money to pay for almost all abortions. But a provision in Trump’s tax and spending plan known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act goes farther than that.
It bans nonprofits that provide abortions from getting Medicaid reimbursements for one year. That applies to any of the medical services offered by those clinics. Speaking to reporters last week, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s Chief Strategy Officer Michelle Velasquez said that while the full extent of the impact on Wisconsin isn’t yet known, the cutbacks will be significant. She warned that the changes will make it harder to provide a range of services — not just abortion.
“[The bill] would make Planned Parenthood essentially a prohibited entity, meaning it could not seek reimbursement from Medicaid for services like contraception care, gender affirming care, STI [sexually transmitted infection] treatment, testing, cancer screening,” Velasquez said at a news conference. “The list goes on and on.”
Planned Parenthood is suing the Trump administration over the Medicaid cuts. The organization says the new law could force nearly 200 of its clinics to close nationwide.
In Wisconsin, there are 21 Planned Parenthood clinics, and three of those locations provide abortions. In response to questions from WPR on Monday, a Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin spokesperson did not say whether the organization expects any of those Wisconsin locations to close because of the law.
“Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is currently reviewing all options to continue to serve patients,” Planned Parenthood Wisconsin’s President and CEO Tanya Atkinson said in a statement.
But the nonprofit made clear it expects deep cuts if that provision of the law is allowed to stand. In Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood sees 50,000 patients a year, and about two-thirds of those people use Medicaid or BadgerCare, which is the state’s Medicaid program, according to Planned Parenthood.
“Let’s be clear: this isn’t about cost-cutting—it’s about cutting off care,” Atkinson said in a statement. “And it will fall hardest on low-income patients, people of color, young people, and those in medically underserved communities.”
Speaking to WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” on Monday, Dr. Abigail Cutler, a Madison-based OB-GYN, said because the bill would defund abortion clinics and force many to close, it’s being referred to as a “backdoor national abortion ban.”
“But honestly, the bill is way worse than a national abortion ban,” Cutler said. “Because at the same time it could make abortion inaccessible by forcing clinics to close, it also shuts down the clinics providing contraception. So with it, we’re taking away from people their ability to access birth control and contraception and prevent unwanted pregnancy in the first place.”
Anti-abortion groups, however, have celebrated the new Medicaid funding provision, arguing that Medicaid dollars had been used indirectly to subsidize abortions.
“Millions of Americans will no longer be forced to bankroll the abortion industry with their tax dollars,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, in a news release. “Defunding abortion businesses, led by Planned Parenthood, marks the greatest pro-life victory since the Dobbs decision.”
In Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood provides medication abortions at its Sheboygan location for as long as 12 weeks after someone’s last menstrual period. Planned Parenthood’s locations in Milwaukee and Madison provide the abortion pill, as well as surgical abortions later in pregnancy.
Wisconsin’s two other abortion clinics, known as Affiliated Medical Services and Care For All, are both located in Milwaukee.
Leaders with Affiliated Medical Services and Care for All could not immediately be reached for comment Monday about the effects of Trump’s law.
In the wake of the Dobbs decision overturning a nationwide right to abortion, providers across Wisconsin stopped providing elective abortions.
They were worried about being prosecuted under a long-dormant 19th century state law, which set felony penalties for “any person, other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child.”
Because of that law, groups like Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin halted abortions in the state for more than a year while a lawsuit played out.
Wisconsin clinics resumed abortions in fall of 2023, after a lower court ruled the pre-Civil War law didn’t actually ban abortion.
Last Wednesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court cemented the effects of that lower court ruling. In a 4-3 opinion, Wisconsin justices concluded the 19th century abortion ban is no longer in effect. Because of that high court order, abortion remains legal in Wisconsin until 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood, family planning clinics in Wisconsin face cuts under new federal law was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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