The St. Louis Planned Parenthood broke the law and then blamed state health officials for holding it accountable for women’s health and safety, state pro-life leaders said Thursday at the conclusion of a week-long hearing about the abortion facility’s license.
“The spectacle created by those who support abortion is shameful,” said Susan Klein, executive director of Missouri Right to Life. “Women’s lives were put at risk, and the law was broken at the St. Louis Planned Parenthood. No one and no healthcare facility is above the law.”
Missouri health officials moved to revoke the abortion facility’s license earlier this year after state health officials said Planned Parenthood put women’s lives at risk in at least four botched abortions and subjected one woman to as many as five procedures to complete her abortion.
However, Planned Parenthood sued, and a judge temporarily blocked the state from taking action. The hearing this week in front of Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudi of the Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission will determine whether the state may revoke the license.
The hearing concluded Thursday, but Dandamudi is not expected to rule until February.
The court battle has drawn national attention because the St. Louis Planned Parenthood is the only abortion facility in Missouri.
Earlier this week, Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Service, said Planned Parenthood is trying to vilify his agency for doing its job, Courthouse News reports. He said their decision to revoke the abortion facility’s license was based on serious concerns about patient safety.
Abortion activists even attacked Williams with false and misleading claims that he was tracking women’s menstrual cycles. The department responded with evidence from both staff and sworn testimony showing that the allegations were incorrect, and the state did not compromise women’s privacy during its investigation, The Missouri Times reports.
According to Missouri Right to Life:
Planned Parenthood has lost their license due to their incompetence, and for no other reason. The blame for the deficiencies and infractions at the Planned Parenthood abortion site in St. Louis can be laid specifically and only on those who operate that abortion facility. …
Annual inspections and unannounced inspections, pursuant to legislation enacted in 2017, raised concerns that have led our Governor, State Leaders and the Director of the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to question some of the healthcare services given to four women at the St Louis Planned Parenthood.
Pro-life advocates have documented at least 72 occasions when ambulances were called to the abortion facility for women with abortion complications. Williams said previously they found 30 deficiencies at the abortion facility, and Planned Parenthood only provided a plan to correct four, ABC News reports.
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The health department said Planned Parenthood also broke the law when it failed to report a botched abortion to the state.
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood contend that the safety concerns are overblown, and state pro-life political leaders just want to shut them down.
Klein said Missouri women have much better options for health care than Planned Parenthood. She pointed to the hundreds of health clinics throughout the state that offer comprehensive, high-quality health care to women and families.
“Thank you to Governor Parson, Director Williams and our pro-life State House and Senate members for watching out for women and unborn babies in the State of Missouri,” she said. “We are proud of your work!”
Missouri could become the first abortion-free state if the St. Louis facility closes. However, Planned Parenthood recently opened a huge new abortion facility just across the border from Missouri in Illinois, after building it in secret for a year.
LifeNews has extensively chronicled the litany of health problems at the St. Louis Planned Parenthood:
Planned Parenthood Clinic Killed Baby at 21 Weeks, Breaking Law Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks
Why is a Court Covering Up Info About 74 Botched Abortions at One Planned Parenthood Clinic?
Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic Failed Health Inspection So Badly It Got a 60-Page Deficiency Report
