Wisconsin Strips $7.5 Million From Abortion Giant Planned Parenthood
BY HEATHER CLARK
SEE: http://christiannews.net/2016/02/19/wisconsin-strips-7-5-million-from-abortion-giant-planned-parenthood/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
MADISON, Wisc. — The Republican governor of Wisconsin signed two bills into law this week that strip the abortion giant Planned Parenthood of $7.5 million and redirect aid toward uncontroversial women’s health organizations.
Gov. Scott Walker held an official signing ceremony on Thursday at Life’s Connection in Waukesha, a non-profit organization that provides alternatives to abortion, where S.B. 237 and S.B. 238 received their final approval.
“Today, we signed two bills into law that prioritize women’s health while improving government and its services to the citizens of Wisconsin,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “We want to make sure as taxpayers, whether it’s state funds or federal funds that come through the state of Wisconsin, that they’re used in the way that’s responsible and reasonable.”
S.B. 237 diverts federal Title X funding from organizations that offer abortion services, meaning that approximately $3.5 million dollars will be stripped from Planned Parenthood. S.B. 238 places a limit on how much family planning groups can be reimbursed by Medicaid for prescriptions, which is estimated to cost Planned Parenthood $4 million.
SB 237 was approved by the Assembly last year and the Senate in January. SB 328 was approved by the state Senate in January and passed the state Assembly last week.
While the bills do not specifically mention Planned Parenthood, author Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, acknowledged to reporters that the legislation will affect the organization.
“This is a consistent stance with where I have always been, where many others in this body have always been, and that is, we are going to protect life,” he told the Cap Times. “I believe that that begins at conception, and I believe that one of the cornerstones of the Declaration of Independence and what our Constitution is drafted around is the protection of life.”
Pro-life and pro-family groups applauded the move.
“Wisconsin taxpayers shouldn’t be forced into this immoral partnership with Planned Parenthood, especially when better, low-cost community health care providers serve women and families far more comprehensively and outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities in Wisconsin 17 to 1,” said Casey Mattox of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
But Planned Parenthood viewed the legislation as a means to end abortion.
“The move was the latest in a long line of attacks by the governor and the Republican-controlled state legislature on the health of Wisconsin women and families,” Planned Parenthood said in a statement.
The organization also threatened to file suit.
“The law is directed just at Planned Parenthood. It’s to cut our funding so we can’t provide services,” Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Director of government relations Nicole Safar told Newsday. “Legal action is certainly on the table. The law singles out Planned Parenthood.”
Some, however, state that the bills do not go far enough as they do not result in a total defunding of the abortion giant.
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signs bill costing Planned Parenthood $8 million
BY BEN JOHNSON
SEE: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/wisconsin-governor-signs-bill-costing-planned-parenthood-8-million-at-pro-l; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
WAUKESHA, Wisconsin, February 18, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) - Governor Scott Walker has signed two bills that will deprive Wisconsin's Planned Parenthood offices of an estimated $8 million.
Even the site of the signing, a pro-life women's pregnancy center named Life's Connection in Waukesha, underscored that the governor embraced a new culture on abortion.
Assembly Bill 310 redirects the state's Title X funding away from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI) to other community health providers, a strategy favored by Republicans at the national level. It is expected to cost PPWI $3.5 million annually in tax revenue.
Currently, Planned Parenthood is the only statewide recipient of Title X funding. The bill passed the Assembly by a 60-35 vote.
“Cutting Planned Parenthood’s public funding is a fiscally and morally responsible step that furthers a culture of life in the great state of Wisconsin," said Pro-Life Wisconsin State Director Dan Miller. “Pro-Life Wisconsin is grateful to Gov. Walker for signing into law legislation that respects the consciences of Wisconsin taxpayers who oppose public funding of abortion."
The second new law (S.B. 238) only allows Planned Parenthood to bill Medicaid for the actual cost of contraceptives, a move that will save taxpayers an estimated $4.5 million.
In 2014, the state's Department of Health Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that two family planning facilities alone had charged the Medicaid program more than twice their allowable cost for birth control. Planned Parenthood warned, if it had to obey the law on reimbursements, it would have to close some of its offices. PPWI's public policy director, Nicole Safar, said at the time such an action would trigger “clinic closing” actions statewide.
The prospect did not concern the state's pro-life leaders. "Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin profits from killing unborn babies and sexualizing our youth," Miller said. "This is not health care but rather a violation of the trust of women and families."
That bill passed the Assembly with a vote of 61-35. Both passed the state Senate by a more narrow, 19-14 vote.
Representative André Jacque and Senator Chris Kapenga co-authored both pieces of legislation.
“Today, we signed two bills into law that prioritize women’s health while improving government and its services to the citizens of Wisconsin,” said Gov. Walker, a onetime 2016 Republican presidential front runner. “These bills require DHS to apply for additional federal funding for women’s health services to be obtained from less controversial providers and ensure prescription reimbursement processes are handled in a cost-based and transparent manner.”
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Casey Mattox, who testified on behalf of both bills, said today, "The taxpayers deserve better than an organization with a long track record of abusive and potentially fraudulent billing practices, that have been caught in authenticated undercover videos negotiating prices for baby body parts, and that have repeatedly failed to report the sexual abuse of girls.”
