Bills Denying Younger Women Comprehensive Reproductive Health Care Advance
NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin urges legislators on the Senate Health and Assembly Family Law Committees to oppose SB 186 and AB 383, measures excluding younger women, ages 15-17, from Wisconsin’s Family Planning Waiver program.
The Family Planning Waiver program, a bipartisan initiative, preserves quality of life for numerous women and prevents countless unintended pregnancies by providing low income women with reproductive health care they could not otherwise access.
“NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin calls on members of the Senate Health and Assembly Family Law Committees to demonstrate their respect for the basic reproductive health care needs of younger women by opposing these bills,” said Courtney Emery of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.
The need for this program is evident – there are nearly 5,000 pregnancies among women ages 15-17 each year. Family planning programs such as this one are the only proven means to make abortion less necessary.
Wisconsin’s Family Planning Waiver, 90% funded by the federal government, will save our state millions of dollars. A small investment in this pregnancy prevention program now ensures that most of the women served will avoid pregnancy in adolescence, never requiring Medicaid or BadgerCare assistance. After all, Medicaid pays for 85% of unintended teen pregnancies in Wisconsin each year.
Excluding younger women from this program will jeopardize all federal funds.
“In a time of fiscal crisis, Wisconsin legislators must not risk millions of dollars in federal aid for such a compassionate and cost effective program. To do so would be terribly irresponsible,” said Emery.
The Family Planning Waiver program provides comprehensive reproductive health care, including contraception, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment and cancer screenings to uninsured, low income women ages 15-44. The Program is expected to serve more than 40,000 Wisconsin women each year.
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