Judge kicks Planned Parenthood lawsuit out of court; tells them to take their complaint to state Administrative Hearing Commission

You have to understand the background before you can properly appreciate St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer’s ruling this morning to extend a preliminary injunction he’d previously issued which allows a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis to continue performing abortions up through Friday.

Was the judge saying that the state health department had erred last Friday when it declined to renew the clinic’s license to perform abortions? No! In fact he “kicked the clinic’s lawsuit out of court,” as CBS News colorfully described his ruling.

Judge Stelzer affirmed what Missouri’s lone abortion clinic should have done in the first place: take its complaint to the Administrative Hearing Commission.

Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s spokesman Steele Shippy said as much, telling the Associated Press, “The judge’s ruling affirms the state’s contention that the licensing dispute should be heard by the state commission.”

The state has said concerns about the clinic arose from inspections in March. Among the problems Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services investigators have cited were three “failed abortions” requiring additional surgeries and another that led to life-threatening complications for the mother, The Associated Press reported last week, citing a now-sealed court filing.  Click here for more.