MILWAUKEE – Planned Parenthood of Illinois is partnering with Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to provide abortion access to patients living in Wisconsin.
Planned Parenthood of Illinois President and CEO Jennifer Welch said during a press conference on Thursday that doctors and clinicians who work in Wisconsin have been training in Illinois throughout the past year.
Those doctors and clinicians are now fully licensed to practice in Illinois as well as Wisconsin.
“We worked out systems so that patients can start and end their care in Wisconsin,” Welch said.
“Abortion providers from Wisconsin now travel to Illinois seveal times a week to expand access to care at our Waukegan health center.”
Welch says this strategy has already been put into practice.
“One patient that comes to mind was scheduled for an abortion at PP WI the day after the U.S. Supreme Court overtunred Roe,” Welch said.
“Of course her appointment was canceled, yet she still needed care very quickly…. Our new partnership meant that we could care for her days later in Waukegan. Wisconsin provided transportation support with gas money and Illinois provided financial assistance. So that patient got the care that she needed.”
Welch says Planned Parenthood of Illinois has seen a ten-fold increase in the number of patients from Wisconsin seeking care across the state border since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.