Planned Parenthood to close 4 Wisconsin centers

Planned Parenthood announced plans Monday to close four of its 27 clinics in Wisconsin due to a lack of state funding.

Clinics in Beaver Dam, Johnson Creek, Chippewa Falls and Shawano will close between April and July, Planned Parenthood leaders said. The closures are the direct consequence of the Legislature eliminating $1 million in state funding for the group in the last budget, said Teri Huyck, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

That money was earmarked for women’s health care services Planned Parenthood offered in nine counties. None of the clinics being closed offered abortions. State law prohibits state money from being used to pay for abortions, unless medically necessary.

Without the state money, the clinics could not afford to stay open, Huyck said.

Each of the four clinics had been open for years. The Beaver Dam site, which opened in 1977, was the oldest and the one in Johnson Creek, which opened in 1999, is the newest.

Planned Parenthood said the closures will affect services such as cancer screenings, breast exams, birth control, STD testing and treatment, and HIV screening provided to 2,000 patients.