Senate panel to vote on stripping Planned Parenthood funding

MADISON — The state Senate's health committee is expected to vote on a pair of bills that would strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding and raise its Medicaid expenses.

One measure would require the state to apply for $3.5 million in federal Title X grant money, which currently all goes to Planned Parenthood. The bill would forbid abortion providers from getting any of that money and instead give it to the state's Well Woman program that provides breast and cervical cancer screenings. The bill passed the full state Assembly in September.

The other proposal would cost Planned Parenthood about $4 million annually by raising the cost of birth control drugs it receives through Medicaid.

The Senate committee is expected to take up both bills during a hearing Tuesday in the state Capitol.