Fetal Tissue Ban, Planned Parenthood Defunding To Be Taken Up By Senate Committee

Update: The hearing is currently underway.

A state Senate committee will hold a public hearing Tuesday on bills that would cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood and prohibit the use of fetal tissue from abortions in research.

The fetal tissue bill is similar to one that already passed a state Assembly panel. It would ban the acquisition or use of any fetal tissue from abortions performed after January of this year. People who violate the plan, including researchers, would be guilty of a felony.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said recently that he wants the Senate to pass a fetal tissue ban, but he’s not sure what the final bill will look like.

State senators will also hear testimony on another bill that would block Planned Parenthood from receiving what’s known as Title X grant money for low-income men and women in Wisconsin. Sponsors contend local health clinics can pick up the slack, but opponents say that’s unrealistic, and that the bill will make it hard — if not impossible — for some people to access health care in Wisconsin.