May 3, 2022

Missouri Ordered to Pay Legal Fees to Planned Parenthood

photo credit: Paul Sableman / Flickr
A new ruling by a federal judge allows the St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic to stay open while forcing the state of Missouri to pay the abortion business's legal fees.

Missouri has been trying to shut down the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in St. Louis for years. The facility, which has injured at least 75 women at this point, continues to operate without a license because Missouri Administrative Hearing Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudi issued a stay allowing them to do so.

On April 29, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem ruled that Missouri must pay Planned Parenthood $8,084 in legal fees. This comes after the court ordered the state to pay Planned Parenthood $140,000 in attorney fees in March 2021.

At least four of the 75 recorded injuries caused by this clinic were life-threatening, and a Senate investigation found several instances of women having to return up to five times after incomplete abortions. The investigation also found that Planned Parenthood staff instructed women not to call 911 if they experience complications.