Missouri Could Soon Become First State to Totally Eliminate Legal Abortion, Tré Goins-Phillips

Netflix Backs Lawsuit Overturning Georgia Abortion Ban, Will Leave State if Babies are Protected, by Steven Ertelt
May 29, 2019
Is the Eucharist a Symbol, Substantial Reality, or Both? by Tim Staples
May 29, 2019

Twitter

By Tré Goins-Phillips, Editor, Faithwire, May 28, 2019

The state of Missouri could soon become the first in the country to totally outlaw legal abortion — a possibility the president of Planned Parenthood, Dr. Leana Wen, described as “a real public health crisis.”

According to a report from CBS News, an abortion clinic in St. Louis — the last one in Missouri — expects to be shut down by the end of the week. The state’s health department is “refusing to renew” the Planned Parenthood facility’s annual license to provide abortion to Missourians.

If the license is not granted, the Show Me State would become the first state in the country without a functioning legal abortion clinic since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling on Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Planned Parenthood would, of course, still have every legal right to continue offering its other health services for the women of Missouri.

Immediately after news broke Tuesday of the potential end to abortion in the midwestern state, Wen, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and others weighed in on what Planned Parenthood described as an “outrageous” possibility:

Leana Wen, M.D.

@DrLeanaWen

If Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis health center cannot provide abortion care, this will be the first time since 1974 that safe, legal abortion care will be inaccessible to people in an entire state.

Planned Parenthood

@PPFA

BREAKING: Missouri could soon become the first state in the country to have no health center that provides safe, legal abortion, leaving more than a million people in a situation we haven’t seen since Roe v. Wade.

This is unacceptable. Abortion care is health care. Period. https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1133388482037059584 

Leana Wen, M.D.

@DrLeanaWen

This is not a drill. This is not a warning. This is a real public health crisis. More than 1 million women of reproductive age in Missouri will no longer have access to a health center in their state that provides abortion care.

72 people are talking about this

Leana Wen, M.D.

@DrLeanaWen

This is the world that the Trump administration and anti-women’s health politicians across the country have been pushing for → a world where abortion care is illegal and inaccessible in this country.

Leana Wen, M.D.

@DrLeanaWen

To the women of Missouri, know this: Planned Parenthood will not stand for it. We will never abandon you and we will help you to get the care that you need — no matter what. Our doors remain open.

160 people are talking about this

Hillary Clinton

@HillaryClinton

We are at a fork in the road for reproductive rights in America.

There has never been a more important moment to recommit to protecting access to a full range of health care—including safe and legal abortion—for all.

Planned Parenthood

@PPFA

BREAKING: Missouri could soon become the first state in the country to have no health center that provides safe, legal abortion, leaving more than a million people in a situation we haven’t seen since Roe v. Wade.

This is unacceptable. Abortion care is health care. Period. https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1133388482037059584 

9,820 people are talking about this

Cecile Richards

@CecileRichards

The biggest hurdles to getting people the health care they need and deserve are not medical or scientific; they are political.

Planned Parenthood

@PPFA

BREAKING: Missouri could soon become the first state in the country to have no health center that provides safe, legal abortion, leaving more than a million people in a situation we haven’t seen since Roe v. Wade.

This is unacceptable. Abortion care is health care. Period. https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1133388482037059584 

133 people are talking about this

National Partnership

@NPWF

YES!! A million times, yes! “This is unacceptable. Abortion care is health care. Period.”@PPFA

Planned Parenthood

@PPFA

BREAKING: Missouri could soon become the first state in the country to have no health center that provides safe, legal abortion, leaving more than a million people in a situation we haven’t seen since Roe v. Wade.

This is unacceptable. Abortion care is health care. Period. https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1133388482037059584 

See National Partnership’s other Tweets

The entire ordeal started on May 20, when the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services informed Planned Parenthood of three issues that could impact its abortion license renewal.

A couple days later, Planned Parenthood said it could address two of the concerned. The St. Louis facility said it could adjust who at the abortion clinic would provide state-mandated counseling services and could add an additional pelvic exam prior to performing abortions on prospective patients.

The third issue, though, which was part of a department investigation into “deficient practices,” was, according to Planned Parenthood, unresolvable. State health officials wanted to interview all seven physicians who provide care at the clinic, but the Planned Parenthood facility could only offer up two of the doctors for interviews. The remaining physicians are not directly employed by Planned Parenthood and refused to sit down for interviews.

All this comes after Missouri’s governor, Mike Parson, signed a pro-life bill into law, banning abortion after eight weeks into pregnancy.

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter

Governor Mike Parson

@GovParsonMO

By signing House Bill 126 today, we are sending a strong signal to the nation that, in Missouri, we stand for life, protect women’s health, and advocate for the unborn.

All life has value and is worth protecting.

🔗https://governor.mo.gov/press-releases/archive/governor-parson-signs-house-bill-126-and-senate-bill-21 

2,246 people are talking about this

“By signing this bill today, we are sending a strong signal to the nation that, in Missouri, we stand for life, protect women’s health, and advocate for the unborn,” Parson said in a statement Friday. “All life has value and is worth protecting.”