Fond Du Lac Planned Parenthood Clinic Will Close

Planned Parenthood plans to close its clinic in Fond du Lac in September. They say a loss of state funding is behind the closure.

The clinic provides a variety of women’s health services. It does not perform abortions.

Last year, Planned Parenthood closed four other rural clinics. The agency says all the closings are due to budget cuts made two years ago. Planned Parenthood did not receive nearly a million dollars in state funding that it says it would have needed to operate in some areas.

Wisconsin Right to Life’s Barbara Lyons said her group was instrumental in lobbying lawmakers to strip Planned Parenthood of funding. Lyons does not believe low-income women will go without needed cancer screenings and breast exams.

“All counties have health care agency services,” said Lyons. “And certainly they are absorbing women in the areas where Planned Parenthood clinics have closed in the past, and they will absorb the Fond du Lac women also.”

Teri Huyck, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, disagrees.

“These are rural areas. They don’t have a huge population base, and we were the only family planning provider for low-income women then – and now that we’ve had to close, there isn’t one,” said Huyck.

The Fond du Lac clinic served 1,100 women last year. Planned Parenthood had 70,000 patients statewide last year. There are now 22 Planned Parenthood facilities that remain open in the state. Of the nine clinics that relied on state funding, five have closed.