Planned Parenthood affiliates providing abortions to Missouri residents have filed a lawsuit to block a new state law that would prevent them from receiving Medicaid funding. The law was set to take effect August 28.
Passed in April, the law says that “no public funds will be expended to any abortion facility or affiliate thereof.” It will prevent the state’s health care program, MO Healthnet, from reimbursing Planned Parenthood.
Though nearly all preborn children in the state of Missouri are currently protected from abortion, Planned Parenthood Great Plains of Overland Park, Kansas, and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers (which has a facility in Illinois) continue to offer abortions to Missouri residents. The two organizations teamed up to challenge the law.
“Despite an already overburdened health care safety net for Missouri Medicaid patients, lawmakers prioritized the legislative ‘defunding’ of Planned Parenthood this last session, harming Missourians with low incomes and forcing them to search for other providers,” Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers wrote in a joint press release.
Though Planned Parenthood attempts to posit its services as “necessary healthcare,” its own annual report debunks this claim —abortion continues to increase at its facilities, while legitimate health care services, including prenatal care, cancer screenings, preventive care visits, adoption referrals, and client numbers have all dropped significantly over the years. In addition, only 2% of women of reproductive age utilize Planned Parenthood for services.
READ: Planned Parenthood has been cited for Medicaid fraud… so why is it still getting taxpayer funding?
This is not health care,” Rep. Mazzie Christensen said during House debate of the new law in April. “These facilities should not be in our state and I’m sick and tired of hearing about it.”
After the law’s passage, Missouri Right to Life also emphasized that Planned Parenthood is not a legitimate health care provider, and should not be reimbursed as such.
“In their just released 2022-2023 annual report, Planned Parenthood reported total income of over 2 billion dollars. For the year the annual report covers, Planned Parenthood performed 392,715 abortions, or about four in 10 abortions, and abortions outnumbered prenatal care 62 to one. In addition, Planned Parenthood boosted its abortion numbers by facilitating ‘transportation and travel support, financial assistance, and referrals,’” Executive Director Susan Klein said. “Pro-life Missourians are grateful to House Sponsor, Representative Cody Smith and Senate Handler, Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman and the Missouri legislators who voted for protecting our firmly held beliefs in the sanctity of human life and prohibiting our tax-dollars from subsidizing the destruction of innocent unborn babies.”
