MADISON, Wis. — Public health officials in Dane County are announcing an expansion of reproductive health services in Dane County in the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, focusing on preventing pregnancies.
In a statement released before a formal announcement Thursday morning, Public Health Madison & Dane County Director Janel Heinrich said they will increase staff and expand hours and services offered at their Sexual and Reproductive Health clinic later this year.
“Access to a full range of reproductive and sexual health services has never been more critical than it is right now,” Heinrich said in a statement. “After consulting with partners, we identified preventative care services, including free and easy access to long-term reversible contraception, as one area we could extend our services.”
PHMDC’s Sexual and Reproductive Health clinic already provides things like birth control, emergency contraception, sexually-transmitted infection testing and more, but is currently run on a part-time basis.
However, they are now planning to expand staffing and hours, while also adding more services — including providing IUDs. Officials say the expanded staff will also allow them to increase outreach and education efforts in the community.
Officials anticipate the expanded hours and services to begin sometime in the fall, with Dane County allocating about $360,000 to fund it. Going forward, the service expansion will be funded jointly by Dane County and the City of Madison.
“Focusing on prevention is an evidence-based approach that can improve health outcomes for Madisonians,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement Thursday. “This is one of the ways local government can help in the face of inaction by the state legislature.”
PHMDC has more information on its reproductive health services on its website.
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