Molly R. Swank, MSWLegislative & Advocacy CoordinatorPlanned Parenthood Advocates of WI

Housekeeping

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Agenda

• Planned Parenthood programs & services

• Overview of legislative attacks against reproductive & sexual health care

• Affordable Care Act

• What you can do to help PPAWI

• PPWI serves over 70,000 patients annually– Life saving cancer screenings, birth control, annual exams, STD test &

treatment• Embody: PPWI’s education and trainings help thousands each

year• PPWI is a primary health care provider to one in five women in

Wisconsin

• Advocacy to protect & expand access to reproductive health & rights

• Educate & lobby on behalf of reproductive rights

• Elect candidates who support family planning and a woman's right to choose.

• 6 Advocates for Choice student groups on campuses across the state

• Over 292,000 Planned Parenthood supporters across the state

Biggest Challenges PPWI Faces in 2014

• Misinformation among community members• Funding

• Political Attacks

2011 - Now: Unprecedented Legislative Attacks on Reproductive Health Care

• Governor Walker & the WI Legislature:– Defunded Planned Parenthood– Eliminated access to lifesaving cancer screenings, birth

control, and annual exams for tens of thousands of patients– Severed PPWI’s relationship with the state lab restricting our

ability to provide cancer screenings– Drastically cut colposcopy funding across the state– Rejected millions of Federal dollars to work on new health

care marketplaces

2013-2015 State Budget

• Cuts to BadgerCare program• Individuals who make more than $11,490 and

families of four who make more than $23,500 will need to purchase their own health insurance from the federal exchange through ACA

• In total, these BadgerCare cuts will impact health care access for approximately 88,000 parents, adding to the 165,000 women already in need of affordable reproductive health care access

Abortion Restrictions: 2013 Version

• AB 227/ SB 206– now Act 37 Forced Ultrasound Bill• AB 216/ SB 202 Eliminating Insurance Coverage for

Abortion & Birth Control• AB 217/ SB 201 Banning Sex Selective Abortion

And more to come…

The Affordable Care Act will enhance and protect access to women’s health:

•Access to birth control with no co-pays •Elimination of gender rating•Insurance coverage of preventive services•Extension of coverage for young adults up to 26 years•End of denied coverage for pre-existing conditions

President Obama Signs Affordable Care Act

What YOU Can Do

• Volunteer with PPAWI– Join PPAWI’s We Are Talking about Women’s Health

Wednesdays• Share YOUR story about why Planned Parenthood is important to

you• Write a letter to the editor• Get email action updates & check out Planned Parenthood

online- PPAWI.org- Facebook.com/PPAWI- Twitter.com/PPAWI- Text “wisconsin” to 69866

PPAWI.org

For more information or to get involved with Planned Parenthood, contact Molly at

molly.swank@ppwi.org