Governor Evers recently shared his state budget, which included the “Healthy Women, Healthy Babies” initiative. This initiative shows the governor’s commitment to prioritizing access to preventive reproductive health care throughout the state.
The initiative aims to make high quality reproductive healthcare more affordable and accessible, to eliminate racial disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes and support healthy pregnancies and births.
What is included in the initiative?
The initiative proposes a holistic approach to ensuring healthy pregnancies and births by considering all of the components of reproductive health care.
Wisconsin has the second-largest infant mortality gap in the nation, where a Black infant is two to three times more likely to die in the first year of life than a white infant. This is unacceptable. The legislation in Governor Evers’ initiative targets the systems that create these discrepancies in birth outcomes.
Evers’ plan creates an Infant Mortality Prevention Program and prioritizes reducing racial disparities in maternal and child health. The program would help to remove barriers to healthy pregnancies such as unstable housing and unemployment.
The initiative would also increase postpartum coverage for mothers insured by Medicaid and provide additional grant funding for doula training in Wisconsin.
How does the initiative impact patients?
The Evers administration also introduced revisions that would allow Planned Parenthood to be eligible for funding for preventive care, like birth control, cancer screenings, well woman exams and STI testing and treatment. This means more care for more people!
Under the last administration, funding for this care was blocked, and the consequences for patients were devastating. Planned Parenthood was forced to close five rural, family planning health centers throughout the state, leaving more than 3,100 patients without a community-based reproductive health care provider.
It is critical that all Wisconsinites have access to quality reproductive health care and this increased funding would allow PPWI to serve more patients throughout the state.
How can I support the Health Women, Healthy Babies Initiative and Governor Evers’ state budget?
Tweet or share the posts below to thank Governor Evers for being a women’s health champion and supporting our important work.
Also, Find and contact your legislators to let them know that you are in support of Governor Evers’ budget proposal.
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