Walker's proposed biennial budget, released Tuesday, would eliminate $1.9 million in state grants for birth control and health screenings, which go to Planned Parenthood and other providers. With federal matching funds, the grants amount to about $4 million a year, said Amanda Harrington, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood.
The budget also would repeal a law that went into effect last year requiring commercial health plans to cover prescription birth control. The law affects about a third of the state population, as the other two-thirds are uninsured or covered by self-insured plans or government insurance.
Lindsay Beyerstein notes that this is right in character for Scott Walker, who used to be an activist in the fetophile movement:
You may not know that Walker is also a longtime anti-abortion crusader. Andy Kroll of Mother Jones reports that Walker, a former president of his college’s chapter of Students for Life, has a long history of campaigning against abortion, contraception, and sex ed. As a gubernatorial candidate, Walker won the endorsement of the hardline Pro-Life Wisconsin, which even opposes abortion to save the life of the woman.As I reported in RH Reality Check, Walker’s anti-union “budget repair” bill also contains an all-out attack on a popular and successful Medicaid program to provide birth control to Wisconsinites whose incomes would qualify them for Medicaid if they became pregnant. The program saves Wisconsin an estimated $45 million a year in maternal and infant health costs alone and brings in 9 federal dollars for every on dollar spent by the state.
So what else are we to conclude other than that Republicans think women who have sex ought to be punished for their sin with the burden of motherhood. Kind of an odd sentiment for a party that's been running on "family values" for the last thirty years, isn't it?
And while we're on the subject, go read Sharon Lerner, here.
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