Gov. Walker to Wisconsin: My Partisan Political Vendettas are More Important Than Your Health

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker today signed in to law measures to limit access to comprehensive care for thousands of Wisconsin families by seeking to divert funds for reproductive health care provided by Planned Parenthood and to reduce their reimbursement rates for providing birth control and family planning through the Medical Assistance program.

Planned Parenthood provides health care to anyone, regardless of income, ability to pay or insurance status, who visits one of their 22 health centers statewide. They currently serve 60,000 individuals each year with breast and cervical cancer screenings, annual exams, birth control, STD testing and treatment, honest sex education and referrals for prenatal care and mammograms. Earlier efforts by Gov. Walker and legislative Republicans closed five Planned Parenthood clinics in rural areas of Wisconsin, impacting over 3,100 women, men and families that depended on them for care.

In their fiscal analysis of the implications of the bill to divert funding away from Planned Parenthood, the Department of Health Services admitted they lack the capacity and network of qualified providers to fulfill the requirements to receive the federal funds.

The following are the statements of One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross:

“Scott Walker today added an exclamation point to his and his fellow Republicans’ misguided belief that they know better than Wisconsin women, their families and their doctors and that their partisan political vendettas are more important than the health of thousands of Wisconsinites.

“Wisconsin women and their families are going to pay the price for the willful ignorance and the politically motivated animosity toward Planned Parenthood of a handful of people who think their election qualifies them to make healthcare decisions for others.

“The hubris of these politicians is as dangerous as it is disappointing.”