Senate adopts Planned Parenthood bill, to take up civil service

Republicans in the state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill cutting funding for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and were scheduled to overhaul the state’s century-old hiring process.

They were also set to pass another bill reducing government payments to Planned Parenthood.

Lawmakers are taking up the legislation cutting Planned Parenthood’s funding while a separate measure backed by abortion opponents remains stalled. The legislation that isn’t advancing — at least for now — would ban research on aborted fetal tissue.

Along party lines, senators voted 18-14 for Senate Bill 238, which would restrict how much Planned Parenthood could be reimbursed for prescription drugs, stripping it of some $7.5 million a year. Another bill the Senate is to take up later Wednesday would cut another $3.5 million in government payments to Planned Parenthood.