The University of Missouri appears to be caving into pressure from abortion advocates after it broke ties with Planned Parenthood earlier this fall.
The university’s health care program said Tuesday that it is helping a Planned Parenthood abortion doctor in Columbia to apply for hospital admitting privileges after the university voted to stop offering admitting privileges to abortion doctors in September, according to the Associated Press.
Colleen McNicholas, the Planned Parenthood abortion doctor, will lose her current hospital admitting privileges on Dec. 1 and cause the abortion facility to lose its license to conduct abortions, the report states. Missouri state law requires abortion doctors to have hospital admitting privileges.
Teresa Snow, a spokeswoman for the university, said the abortion clinic likely will lose its license to perform medical abortions while McNicholas re-applies for hospital admitting privileges, a process that takes months. The university health care program is compiling documents for the abortion doctor’s application process, according to the AP.
Student protests about unrelated racial issues are causing upheaval at the university that could be affecting its relationship with Planned Parenthood, too.
The AP reports more:
Two top leaders stepped down last week following student protests and one student’s hunger strike over the administration’s handling of racial issues.
The university also dealt with blowback after it began breaking ties with Planned Parenthood amid legislative investigations that delved into the Columbia clinic’s relationship with the University of Missouri.
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Former Columbia campus Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, who announced his resignation Nov. 9, had called for a review of university policies and procedures. A number of agreements with Planned Parenthood were canceled as a result, although three additional agreements have since been finalized.
How interim leadership will handle the university’s relationship with Planned Parenthood is unclear. Requests for comment to Interim Chancellor Hank Foley were not immediately returned Tuesday.
Pro-life advocates are not giving up on the university. Kathy Forck, campaign director of the Columbia 40 Days for Life campaign, told the AP that they met with Loftin before he resigned and gave him almost 3,800 petitions asking the school to cut ties with Planned Parenthood. The pro-lifers also delivered more than 600 signatures on a petition to the university, according to KRCG TV.
Forck said, “3,776 people took the time to sign their name to say that they applaud the correct decision of the chancellor and the board of curators in dissolving those privileges of Dr. Colleen McNicholas and doing what is lawful in the State of Missouri.”
Forck said pro-lifers are working on a new letter-writing campaign to the university, calling on it to get out of the abortion business.
Earlier in November, abortion advocates delivered their own petition to the University of Missouri with about 2,500 signatures, LifeNews previously reported.
In August, the university canceled ten contracts with Planned Parenthood, including teaching medical students how to kill unborn babies in abortions, LifeNews.com previously reported. The move came after the state began investigating the tie between the university and Planned Parenthood in light of a series of 11 videos exposing how the abortion company sells aborted babies and their body parts. The university also canceled its “refer and follow agreement” with McNicholas in September.
The Missouri Planned Parenthood affiliate issued a statement calling for the university to renew its contracts.
“The clock is ticking for [the university] to restore physician privileges by December 1, a critical step ensuring that the full range of high quality reproductive health care services, including abortion, remain legal, available and accessible in Mid-Missouri,” said Laura McQuade, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, in the statement.
Pro-life advocates, meanwhile, praised the university for ending its relationship with the abortion business.
Missouri Sen. Kurt Schaefer, who led the state investigation of Planned Parenthood, said, “Many unborn lives will hopefully be saved as a result” of the university cutting ties with Planned Parenthood. He added, “Through the course of our investigation, startling facts came to light, our committee dug deeper, and the public made their voices heard. This joyous outcome is proof positive that these committee investigations matter and the result will have eternal significance.”
Action: Contact Columbia 40 Days for Life to participate in a letter-writing campaign asking the University of Missouri to end its ties with the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
