Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Inc.
Abortion Access in
Wisconsin
For 86 years, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has provided reproductive health care to
women in Wisconsin. In 2020, Planned Parenthood provided nearly 55,000 patients with
lifesaving cervical and breast cancer screening, sexually transmitted disease treatment and
testing and information and access to all forms of birth control. Planned Parenthood provides
abortion services at three privately funded health centers in Milwaukee, Madison, and
Sheboygan. PPWI’s abortion services include contraceptive counseling to help patients
avoid future unintended pregnancies.
Abortion in Wisconsin is extremely limited and heavily restricted. Ninety-six percent of
Wisconsin counties have no abortion provider and 63 percent of Wisconsin women live in
those counties.
Many Black, Latino and Indigenous people, those with low incomes, and people in rural ar-
eas will face the greatest barriers to abortion access. Already, people who struggle to make
ends meet are often forced to delay abortion services because they need time to secure the
funds. They are also less able to travel out of state to get the care they need.
Compounding the access problem many women in Wisconsin face a signicant number of
laws restricting access to abortion. These laws apply to medication and surgical abortion.
Wisconsin laws include some of the strictest regulations in the nation:
• Wis. Stat. § 253.10 requires a 24-hour waiting period prior to an abortion.
• Wis. Stat. § 253.10 requires state directed counseling for every woman.
• Wis. Stat. § 253.10 requires a woman seeking medication abortion to see the
same medical provider 12-18 days after taking the medication to conrm the
abortion.
• Wis. Stat. § 253.10 requires a woman seeking an abortion to obtain an
ultrasound.
• Wis. Stat. § 253.105 requires a physician to be in the room when a woman
is given abortion medication, this makes telehealth services for medication
abortion impossible.
• Wis. Stat. § 253.107 prohibits abortion after 20 weeks.
• Wis. Stat § 940.04 prohibits abortion outright but is not currently enforceable
under Roe v. Wade.
• Wis. Stat. § 940.15 prohibits abortion after viability unless it is necessary to
save the life or protect the health of a pregnant person.
• Wis. Stat. § 48.375 requires mandatory parental consent.
• Wis. Stat. § 20.9275 prohibits any public funding for abortion services or
related activity.
• Wis. Stat. § 632.8985 prohibits any insurance plan sold on ACA Marketplace
in Wisconsin from covering abortion care.
• Wis. Stat. § 40.56 prohibits health-insurance policies provided to state
employees from including abortion coverage.
Although abortion is just a small piece of the overall health care Planned Parenthood provides,
it is a critical piece of comprehensive reproductive health care we offer our patients.
Banning abortions won’t stop them in Wisconsin or in any other state
— what it will do is make it unsafe.
Consistent evidence demonstrates that when abortion services are restricted or inaccessible,
maternal health suffers and women die. According to the World Health Organization, unsafe
abortion is the cause of 70,000 maternal deaths each year — or one in eight pregnancy-related
deaths among women.
