Missouri was one of several states to have trigger laws in place, set to immediately protect preborn children from abortion when the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade in June. Yet prior to this, abortion was still legal in Missouri — and had increased for the first time in over a decade.
The Department of Health and Senior Services’ newest statistics showed that there were at least 3,639 women from Missouri who underwent abortions in the state in 2021. This is an increase from 2020, when 3,391 women underwent abortions — and it’s the first time abortions in the state increased year-to-year since 2008.
Still, it’s a dramatic decrease in abortions from years past. In 2011, there were 9,234 abortions recorded. Then pro-life laws began to be implemented in the state. A law protecting preborn children from abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy was passed, though it was blocked by the courts. Before that, Missouri lawmakers had also required abortion facilities to meet ambulatory surgical center health standards, and for abortionists to have admitting privileges at hospitals. That, too, was blocked.
By the time Roe fell, Missouri had just one abortion facility remaining: Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region. Since Missouri’s trigger law protecting preborn children from abortion went into effect, this facility no longer appears to be offering abortions and instead refers to its sister center across the Illinois/Missouri border.
The St. Louis facility has a record of numerous health and safety violations and has injured at least 75 women. The body parts of aborted babies were left inside at least four women there, and at least one woman was nearly killed. A 62-page Statement of Deficiencies explained that the woman had placenta previa, which can make an abortion extremely dangerous. The abortionist botched the procedure, and the woman almost died.
Another patient sued after Planned Parenthood made her undergo three abortions for the same pregnancy. One of these procedures was completed at the hospital, because the Planned Parenthood abortionist botched the procedure twice, and left body parts inside her uterus.
As this was the state’s sole abortion facility, that means nearly 4,000 women had their lives put at risk in 2021, given this center’s record of injuries. Though the abortion industry claims it is more dangerous for women when abortion to be restricted, Planned Parenthood of St. Louis is a prime example of how dangerous abortion can truly be — and how protecting preborn children can also mean protecting the lives of their mothers, too.
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