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Although dwarfed by other spending cuts proposed in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011-13 biennial budget, his proposed $1.9 million reduction of “reproductive health and family planning” funding in the state is drawing some attention. The budget would also repeal a law requiring insurers in the state to cover contraceptives, including birth control medication, and end a state Medicaid program providing reproductive health services to men.

The $1.9 million cut comes from the state’s “Title V” program, named after the federal grant program that provides most of its funding. The program, supported by a mix of state, local and federal funds, is intended to provide health services for mothers and children in states. In Wisconsin, it funds a variety of programs. One of the largest funds reproductive health services provided at health clinics around the state, including some run by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

But not abortions, according to spokeswoman Amanda Harrington. “Abortion is not a service provided at centers that receive Title V or Title X funding,” she says, referring to another federal grant program that requires no state matching funds.

Harrington says about a third of the Planned Parenthood clinics in the state use Title V funding to provide cervical and testicular cancer tests, breast exams, screens for HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases as well as birth control, including the morning after pill, which some pro-life groups say is a form of abortion because it can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.

The proposed cut, she says, “would decimate family planning health care around the state. This is not a cut to Planned Parenthood. It’s a cut to uninsured women and families in Wisconsin.”

Abortions are performed at Planned Parenthood locations in Milwaukee, Madison and Appleton, but Harrington says those location are privately funded.

Matt Sande, director of legislation for Pro-Life Wisconsin, argue that Title V money indirectly supports abortion. “The family planning money going into these organizations frees up resources that can be used for abortion,” he says. “All money is fungible.”

He says of Planned Parenthood’s cancer and STD testing: “We’re not denying they provide those services, but they also engage in killing unborn children.”

The $1.9 million cut could jeopardize further federal funding. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requires that states match every $4 of federal Title V funding with $3 of state or local funding. The $1.9 million, according to a report by the state Department of Health Services, is part of $5.3 million in state funds eligible for federal match under the program. (Other state funding not targeted by the budget includes about $2.4 million for congenital disorders and smaller appropriations for poison control, infant mortality and other programs.)

According to the report, “fees charged to clients served by local family planning/reproductive health projects” in Wisconsin are expected to generate about $7.7 million.

Sam Austin, an analyst for the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, says the agency hasn’t yet completed its review of what the $1.9 million cut’s fiscal impact could be, including what loss of federal funds might result. He says most counties in the state receive a mix of state and federal funding under the state Title V program.

Walker’s budget would also repeal the requirement for health insurance plans to cover contraceptives, including birth control, the primary motivation for passing the law, passed in 2009. Currently, 28 states require coverage of contraceptives. Some states, but not Wisconsin, grant religious exemptions. Some Catholic employers in Wisconsin have considered becoming self-insured to avoid offering coverage for contraceptives.

In another cut, men would be excluded from a BadgerCare program that provides coverage for family planning services and contraceptives to patients between the ages of 15 and 44. Pro-Life Wisconsin has stressed its opposition to the program’s services for minors, arguing it encourages promiscuity and undermines parental authority. Federal Medicaid law prevents health clinics from contacting parents when teens seek services, such as STD testing, or pickup contraceptives.

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