Wisconsin Planned Parenthood clinics suspend abortion services amid funding crisis

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Planned Parenthood clinics in Wisconsin will stop providing abortions on Wednesday, as the organization’s centers across the country struggle to navigate the fallout of a law that blocks the the reproductive healthcare giantfrom receiving reimbursements from Medicaid.

Thanks to a provision in President Trump’s new tax and spending bill, abortionproviders that receive more than $800,000 in reimbursements from Medicaid, the US government’s insurance program for low-income people, are blocked from participating in the program for one year. That provision is so narrowly tailored that it applies almost exclusively to Planned Parenthood, long a conservative target.

It is already illegal to use federal Medicaid dollars to pay for most abortions. Instead, Planned Parenthood clinics rely on Medicaid to pay for services such as cancer screenings, STI tests and contraception.

By ending its abortion provision, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin appears to be attempting to continue receiving Medicaid reimbursements for those other services. The measure is intended to be temporary, the regional affiliate said in a statement.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... on-funding