WI Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinics Will Close Due to Trump Budget Bill
This week, the Planned Parenthood affiliate for the state of Wisconsin announced that it will not be scheduling abortion services beyond September 30 due to funding cuts included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) is the first known Planned Parenthood affiliate to end its abortion services because of provisions in the bill, reported Autonomy News, which was the first to report on the organization’s decision.
PPWI sought to assure the public that it was only doing so temporarily, though it was unclear when, if ever, it could resume providing abortions.
“Our commitment is unwavering: Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will continue to provide the full spectrum of reproductive health care — including abortion — as soon as we are able to,” PPWI president Tanya Atkinson said in a statement. “In the meantime, we are pursuing every available option — through the courts, through operations, and civic engagement.”
PPWI has three abortion clinics in the state, in Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan. Although there are some other limited options, those three are the largest providers of abortion services in Wisconsin. Beyond those clinics, however, PPWI has 22 health centers across the state that provide other services, such as pregnancy and STI testing, gynecological exams, contraceptive care, and more.
Federal funds cannot go toward abortion services due to the decades-old Hyde Amendment. However, family planning clinics could still apply for Medicaid reimbursements if they provided other services and used the funds for those purposes only.
Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act that President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this year, the rules changed — starting October 1, organizations that provided abortions and received greater than $800,000 in Medicaid payments during fiscal year 2023 would be barred from receiving more funding if they continued to offer abortion services beyond that date.
Planned Parenthood and other groups are suing the Trump administration over the law. However, a previous injunction on its anti-abortion provision was lifted earlier this month by an appellate court, allowing it to remain enforced while the litigation progresses.
PPWI ultimately was forced to shutter its three abortion clinics to keep the other 22 health centers open.
“Effectively, 99 percent of Wisconsin counties now lack clinic-based abortion care,” UW-Madison’s Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (CORE) said in an email to The Wisconsin Examiner.
This outcome is heartbreaking to abortion rights activists in the state, who just secured recognition of the right this summer following nearly a year and a half of abortion rights being denied.
After the federal Supreme Court ruled in the 2022 case Dobbs v. Jackson that states could enforce abortion bans, Wisconsin reverted to an 1849 law that barred the practice except in cases where a person’s life was at risk. Wisconsin voters revolted by changing the ideological makeup of the state Supreme Court, which in turn ruled that the 1849 law was incongruent with the state constitution and laws that were passed over the past several decades.
“Comprehensive legislation enacted over the last 50 years regulating in detail the ‘who, what, where, when, and, how’ of abortion so thoroughly covers the entire subject of abortion that it was meant as a substitute for the 19th century near-total ban on abortion,” Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet wrote for the majority in that decision.
While the ruling meant that abortion services in the state could resume, the provisions of Trump’s budget bill make it difficult for abortion to continue in practice.
In response to PPWI’s decision to suspend its abortion services, Chicago Abortion Fund executive director Megan Jeyifo indicated that the organization and others in Illinois were prepared to receive an influx of abortion seekers from neighboring states.
Unfortunately, we as a movement — and particularly in Illinois, as the largest receiving state in the country — are not unfamiliar with rapid landscape shifts that shrink access to essential healthcare and disrupt people’s lives. The Chicago Abortion Fund, our partner clinics across Illinois, and our elected officials remain here to ensure that everyone can get the abortion care they want, need, and deserve.
Jeyifo made clear who was to blame for the lack of abortion care in Wisconsin.
“The collapse in Wisconsin is the direct fallout of Donald Trump’s so-called ‘big, beautiful bill,’ a backdoor abortion ban playing out in real time,” Jeyifo said. “Despite these cruel policies, Illinois will continue to meet this moment with care, compassion, and commitment.”