Abortion provider calls Bailey’s letter an ‘unfounded political attack’
Abortionists working at Planned Parenthood facilities in Missouri are slamming the attorney general’s order prohibiting them from dispensing abortion pills, calling it a “political attack.”
In an order released last Wednesday, Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey informed Planned Parenthood–Great Rivers that it was “hereby ordered under penalty of law not to perform any chemical abortions in Missouri” because it wasn’t in compliance with a state law requiring abortion clinics to have “a valid plan to treat complications from chemically induced abortions.” Bailey cited statistics finding that “up to 4.6% of women who receive chemical abortions are forced to seek medical attention.”
“Missouri law requires you to adopt an approved plan to treat complications when using any chemical ‘in which more than 1 percent of the drug or chemical required surgical intervention after its administration,’” he wrote. “You do not have an approved plan in place.”
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
Bailey also asserted that “Planned Parenthood has established an uncontroverted track record of violating the law in Missouri in recent years.”
According to Bailey, “Physicians at Planned Parenthood organizations in Missouri have recently conceded — under oath — to violating the law and have been found by investigators and tribunals to have violated Missouri’s laws many times in recent years. These violations include repeated and knowing failures to comply with reporting requirements, to comply with informed consent laws, and to sterilize instruments.”
In a statement last Thursday, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America State Affairs Director Sue Liebel praised the development: “In Missouri, they’ve been caught using moldy abortion equipment and abetting the trafficking of minors without saying a word to parents.”
“We’re thankful Missouri has strong pro-life leaders like Attorney General Bailey, who — unlike pro-abortion blue states — won’t tolerate the Big Abortion Industry, led by Planned Parenthood, profiting at women’s and children’s expense,” Liebel added.
Bailey first informed Planned Parenthood Great Rivers of his office’s intent to serve a cease and desist order against the abortion provider in a statement a week before issuing it. The order comes after Bailey issued a March 7 deadline for the abortion provider to file a response with his office.
“Planned Parenthood has a long history of disregarding the health and safety of Missouri women,” Bailey stated at the time. “The courts have stripped away basic licensing requirements that protect women, but I will not stand by while Planned Parenthood continues to flout the law and put women’s lives at risk.”
In a statement released last Wednesday, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers and Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains denounced the order as an “unfounded political attack.” They accused Bailey of engaging in a “blatant attempt to deceive Missourians.”
“In reality, neither Planned Parenthood affiliate received any notice from the AG at the time of publishing his press release, and neither have been able to resume medication abortion services in Missouri. In fact, both PPGR and PPGP submitted complication plans in February to comply with requirements set forth by the state, and continue to wait for any response from [the Department of Health and Senior Services],” the statement maintained.
The abortion providers shared respective letters they sent in response to Bailey’s March 5 letter. Planned Parenthood Great Rivers’ letter stated that “Great Rivers is not currently providing medication” because “it is waiting for DHSS to approve its complication plan before providing medication abortion.” The Planned Parenthood affiliate contended that “Great Rivers has received zero response from DHSS despite our repeated follow up inquiries.”
“Rather than urging DHSS to respond to Great Rivers’ weeks-ago-submitted proposed complication plan, you instead threaten to ‘take action’ against Great Rivers for hypothetical, future medication abortion occurring without such a plan,” the letter continued.
Bailey’s order to Planned Parenthood Great Rivers also comes a month after The New York Times published a report detailing unsanitary and unsafe conditions at Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
