There's a lot happening in the federal government these days, including a rescission bill — which the Trump administration is using to ask Congress to cancel money already allocated to foreign aid and public media; a federal budget bill — President Trump's signature domestic policy bill that lawmakers are trying to pass through reconciliation; and continued efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE.
If the federal budget bill currently before Congress passes, it would bar people with Medicaid from accessing reproductive health care at organizations that provide abortions.
That's as some clinics that offer abortion are already closing, even in states where abortion is still legal. As Caitlin Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College, told NPR: "That's because running an in-person clinic is getting harder financially. Although donors have stepped up after the Dobbs decision, since then, fundraising has slowed."
WUWM spoke with Michelle Velasquez, chief strategy officer of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, about what cutting off Medicaid recipients from Planned Parenthood's services would mean in the state.
"So, when we're talking about people being restricted from using Planned Parenthood, they will be restricted from accessing birth control, STI testing and treatment, Well Women's exams, cancer screenings, vasectomies, gender-affirming care, PrEP, HIV testing etc.," says Velasquez. "And so in Wisconsin, what that means is anywhere from about 50,000 to 60,000 people would no longer potentially have access to the services at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin."
She says that's on average about how many Wisconsinites seek various kinds of sexual and reproductive health care from the organization's 21 Wisconsin locations or through virtual appointments.
Velasquez doesn't think there is any one health care system that could absorb the number of patients that Planned Parenthood sees for these types of health care.
"And many people will just go without that care," she says. "This will ultimately be much more expensive for not just the state of Wisconsin, but the federal government as well. I think the the [non-partisan Congressional Budget Office] estimated about a $300 million cost to the government for defunding Planned Parenthood over a 10-year period of time."
Currently, the bill is before the U.S. Senate. Wisconsin's two U.S. Senators Republican Ron Johnson and Democrat Tammy Baldwin are currently "no" votes on the bill, both for divergent reasons.
Velasquez says, "At this point in time, a 'no' is a 'no.' And if this bill does not pass as-is out of the Senate, there's more opportunity if this goes back to the House for people to engage and try to get this particular provision stricken from the bill."
She says this could also be a situation for the "Byrd rule," which indicates lawmakers cannot create policy through a budget bill or a reconciliation bill.
The rule allows anything determined not to have a direct budgetary consequence to be removed from the bill. The goal behind this, according to NPR, is "to prevent reconciliation from being used for measures unrelated to the finances of the federal government."
"But in the broader picture," says Velasquez. "If [this bill passes and] people [who are now covered by Medicaid] are waiting to get care or not able to get care until they're very ill, or they're having unplanned pregnancies, all of those things essentially will impact the the fiscal note of states and the federal government."
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