Missouri to Be Abortion-Free Following Heartbeat Bill and Closure of Last Planned Parenthood Clinic
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, the last abortion clinic in Missouri, will shut down on Friday following revocation of its medical license, after staff refused to cooperate with State Health inspectors over the clinic’s abortion practices.
“They have said the interrogation could lead to criminal proceedings and board review of their licenses,” Helene Krasnoff, a legal expert at Planned Parenthood, told CBS News with reference to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services ultimatum sent to the clinic May 20th, which sought in vain to interview seven employees over “potential deficient practices.”
Last Friday Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed into law a “heartbeat” anti-abortion bill banning abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, making Missouri the eighth state in recent months to ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detectable.
“[W]e are sending a strong signal to the nation that, in Missouri, we stand for life, protect women’s health, and advocate for the unborn,” Parson said in a tweet, adding that “all life has value and is worth protecting.”
Advocates of the recent bevy of anti-abortion laws hope the conservative majority in the US Supreme court made possible by the nominations of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh will lead to the overturning of Roe V. Wade, which precedent established terminating a pregnancy as a constitutional right.
Barring any reversals in a circuit court hearing Wednesday, Missouri will become the first state since Roe in 1973 without an abortion clinic.