 |
| A 2016 protest at the St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic Photo Credit: Paul Sableman / Flickr |
Gov. Parson said that this decision was influenced by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), which was unwilling to pursue legal action after the court decision. At least one official from the DHSS has suggested that the department is satisfied with changes the abortion clinic made since the DHSS originally denied the renewal of its license in June of 2019.
Many are surprised and upset by the sudden halt in legal action against the St. Louis clinic, including Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. Operation Rescue is a pro-life organization that keeps track of abortion clinics that injure and hospitalize women, so it is very aware of the potential harm the St. Louis clinic could do if allowed to remain open.
“The DHSS comments are extremely naïve,” said Newman. “This is an abortion facility that has injured over 75 women, publicly lied about policies of the DHSS, obstructed Department investigations, and blatantly ignored regulations. There is no reason to believe that these arrogant people won’t continue to disregard the law and patient care standards when it suits them as they have done for years.”
While the courts temporarily allowed the clinic to operate without a license, it sent all women seeking abortions to the new Fairview Heights Planned Parenthood clinic in Illinois. This clinic was constructed in secret to serve as a potential location for Missouri women to get abortions if the St. Louis clinic was forced closed, but it likely also helped the St. Louis clinic pass its new licensing inspection after the Administrative Court ruling. By sending abortion-minded women to Illinois, the St. Louis clinic could make sure that it kept itself out of trouble until after it got a new license. Now that it has one, it can go back to injuring women like it has so many times in the past.
