Madison Reporter

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway is voicing her support for a plan that will increase staff and expand hours and services the Public Health Madison & Dane County facility will be able to offer at its Sexual and Reproductive Health clinic beginning later this year.

“Focusing on pregnancy prevention is an evidence-based approach that can improve health outcomes for Madisonians,” Rhodes-Conway posted on Twitter. “This is one of the ways local government can help in the face of inaction by the State Legislature.”

Public Health Madison & Dane County Director Janel Heinrich said the added service couldn’t come at a more critical time given the Supreme Court’s recent decision essentially outlawing Roe vs. Wade.

“Access to a full range of reproductive and sexual health services has never been more critical than it is right now,” she said in a press release. “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.”

In putting its plan into motion, clinic officials are counting on a $360,000 investment from Dane County. One of the services the clinic is promising to add is access to long term, reversible birth control like IUDs.

With the clinic now operating on a part-time basis, the new funding opens the door to the added expansion, which has an estimated timeline of fall with the annual cost being offset by both the city of Madison and Dane County.