As Wisconsin Planned Parenthood pauses abortions amid Medicaid funding cuts, Illinois braces for more patients
Illinois is bracing for even more women from neighboring states to travel for healthcare after Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced it is pausing abortions services starting next week.
The organization is working to find a way to provide the service in the face of Medicaid funding cuts in President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill, the nonprofit said Thursday.
Abortion funding across the U.S. has been under siege, particularly Planned Parenthood affiliates, which are the biggest provider.
The organization warned earlier this year that about half its clinics that provide abortion could be closed as a result of a ban on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood for services other than abortion.
The measure was part of the tax and spending law Mr. Trump signed in July. Initially, a judge said reimbursements must continue, but a federal appeals court this month said the government could halt the payments while a court challenge to the provision moves ahead.
Planned Parenthood services include cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. Federal Medicaid money was already not paying for abortion, but affiliates relied on Medicaid to stay afloat.
Nearly half of Planned Parenthood's patients rely on Medicaid.
In Illinois, abortion providers are worried the move will bring another influx of patients to the state. Illinois has already become a destination for people seeking abortion care. According to the latest Illinois Department of Public Health data, out of state residents made up about 36% of abortion procedures in 2023 and 30 percent in 2022.
In 2021 they comprised 21% and in 2020 they comprised 20% of patients. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the summer of 2022.
Last year, CBS News Chicago spoke with the Planned Parenthood President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson about the trend of patients coming to Illinois.
"We are living in a world now where one in three women, more trans, non-binary folks are living in a state without abortion access, full abortion access, so that means we have thousands of patients traveling every day," she said. "Those patients are now coming to states like Illinois and the providers are doing everything they can to see them."
Planned Parenthood had filed an injunction to block the law affecting Wisconsin, but it has since been lifted.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said in a statement that it is trying to see as many patients as possible between now and Tuesday. The federal law takes effect Wednesday. It is not scheduling patients beyond that date and the organization believes the move will allow it to continue seeing other Medicaid patients. The organization said it was working with providers across the state to make sure patients are referred quickly and receive timely care.
It is also considering taking legal action, the group said.
"Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will continue to provide the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including abortion, as soon and as we are able to," Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin President and CEO Tanya Atkinson said in the statement. "In the meantime, we are pursuing every available option through the courts, through operations, and civic engagement."