missouriindependent.com Open in urlscan Pro
2606:4700:10::6816:219d  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

GET https://missouriindependent.com/

<form id="searchform" role="search" method="get" action="https://missouriindependent.com/" class="mobileNavbar form-inline my-2 my-lg-0 navSearch">
  <input class="form-control mr-sm-2 headerSearchInput px-2 searchShow" type="text" name="s" placeholder="Search" value="" style="display:none">
  <button value="search" class="headerSearchBtn searchShow" type="submit" style="display:none"><i class="fas fa-search"></i></button>
  <i class="fas fa-search searchHide" id="searchIcon" onclick="openSearch()"></i>
</form>

GET https://missouriindependent.com/

<form id="searchform" role="search" method="get" action="https://missouriindependent.com/" class="form-inline my-2 my-lg-0 navSearch">
  <span>
    <a href="https://twitter.com/MO_Independent" target="_blank"><i class="fab fa-twitter"></i></a>
    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/missouriindependent/" target="_blank"><i class="fab fa-facebook-f"></i></a>
  </span>
  <input class="form-control mr-sm-2 headerSearchInput px-2 searchShow" type="text" name="s" placeholder="Search" value="" style="display:none">
  <button value="search" class="headerSearchBtn searchShow" type="submit" style="display:none"><i class="fas fa-search"></i></button>
  <i class="fas fa-search searchHide" id="searchIcon" onclick="openSearch()"></i>
</form>

Text Content

 * HOME
 * NEWS
    * Cannabis
    * Criminal Justice
    * Energy + Environment
    * Health Care
    * Education
    * Election 2024

 * COMMENTARY
 * ABOUT
 * SUBSCRIBE
 * DONATE



 * Cannabis
 * Criminal Justice
 * Energy + Environment
 * Health Care
 * Education
 * Election 2024

9:31

NEWS STORY

 * Health Care
 * Uncategorized


MISSOURI REPUBLICANS PUSH BILL TO DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD AFTER YEARS OF LEGAL
FIGHTS


ABORTION RIGHTS ADVOCATES SAID CUTTING FUNDING TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD WOULD BE A
‘DEVASTATING BLOW’ TO THE STATE’S PUBLIC HEALTH SAFETY NET

BY: ANNA SPOERRE - JANUARY 25, 2024 9:31 AM



The Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis on June 24, 2022 (Photo by Tessa
Weinberg/Missouri Independent).

After years of court losses and legislative stalemates, Republicans and
anti-abortion advocates in Missouri are once again trying to block Planned
Parenthood from receiving money through Medicaid.

A Senate committee debated legislation Wednesday that would change Missouri law
to make Planned Parenthood ineligible to receive reimbursements from MO
HealthNet, the state’s Medicaid program.

Though the organization says it hasn’t received any state funds for nearly two
years, as legal fights over past GOP efforts continue to play out in court,
anti-abortion advocates argued Missouri lawmakers must take action. 

“Budgets are moral documents,” said Samuel Lee, with Campaign Life Missouri, who
testified in support of the bill before the Senate health and welfare committee.
“And it’s immoral to spend money on organizations that provide and promote
abortions.”

Nearly all abortions are illegal in Missouri, with the exception of medical
emergencies. The two Planned Parenthood affiliates operating in the state –
Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region
and Southwest Missouri – no longer provide abortions in Missouri. But their
clinics in Illinois and Kansas, as well as around the country, still do.

In 2020, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down language in a budget bill that
excluded abortion providers or their affiliates from receiving Medicaid
reimbursements. 

Lawmakers tried again in 2022, and a Cole County judge once again deemed the
move unconstitutional. That case was appealed and is once again with the state
Supreme Court.

State Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Democrat from Kansas City, reminded the committee
that if Planned Parenthood received a Medicaid reimbursement, it would not be
going to fund abortions. The organization’s clinics also provide other
reproductive health care, such as cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment
and contraceptives.

NEED TO GET IN TOUCH?

HAVE A NEWS TIP?

CONTACT US

Advocates for planned Parenthood said cutting off Medicaid funding would only
hurt those most in need of care.

“Even though the Missouri Supreme Court and the Circuit Court of Cole County
have ruled that defunding attempts were unconstitutional, lawmakers continue
playing political games to deny patients high-quality preventive care,” the
state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates said in a joint statement following the
hearing.

Planned Parenthood officials said they’ve continued treating all patients, even
without reimbursements coming in.

Vanessa Wellbery, vice president of policy and advocacy for Planned Parenthood
of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said nearly 20% of the patients
of Planned Parenthood affiliates in Missouri rely on Medicaid. 

“Any suggestion that patients could just go somewhere else or go to another
provider is simply wrong,” Wellbery said. “There are not enough sexual and
reproductive health care providers to fill the gap. This bill is discriminatory,
it’s irresponsible, and it would issue a devastating blow to our public health
safety net here in Missouri.” 



A FIGHT TO END PUBLIC DOLLARS TO PLANNED PARENTHOOD



Susan Klein, executive director of Missouri Right to Life, said anti-abortion
advocates and lawmakers have worked hard to fight against public dollars going
to Planned Parenthood. 

“We’re asking for pro-life protective language to go in statute to prevent our
public dollars from going to an organization that is affiliated with the largest
abortion provider in the United States,” she said. 

State Sen. Nick Schroer, a Defiance Republican sponsoring the legislation,
assured his colleagues that there are enough health care providers to “pick up
the slack” if Planned Parenthood ceases to exist in Missouri. 

“With all the money that’s coming in to put abortion back on the ballot, I think
there’s a lot of money there,” Schroer said. “Why do they need our tax dollars?”

Schroer was referencing two coalitions that have launched initiative petitions
campaigns hoping to enshrine abortion rights into the Missouri constitution. 

> GOP renews push to make it harder to amend Missouri constitution by initiative
> petition



One coalition, Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, has raised more than $2
million to bankroll its efforts to gather more than 171,000 signatures before
May in order to put the issue on the statewide ballot.  

Ryan Conway, legislative director for the Missouri Department of Social
Services, said in the past three fiscal years, no money has been refunded to
Planned Parenthood from DSS or MO HealthNet.

Arthur worried that cutting off Medicaid patients’ access to Planned Parenthood
clinics could result in an even higher financial toll for the state. 

“If we are denying people access to the health care provider of their choice, in
which case many times is Planned Parenthood, then you are creating a scenario
where there may be more unwanted pregnancies,” Arthur said. “And that can cause
additional expense for the state of Missouri if those patients go on to have
pregnancies if they’re on Medicaid, their children are on Medicaid.” 



‘THAT SAFETY NET IS GOING TO BREAK’



Maggie Olivia, a policy manager with Abortion Action Missouri, said she relied
on Planned Parenthood health centers when she was uninsured. Even though she now
has insurance, Olivia, who said she is also a survivor of sexual violence,
continues to get gynecological care through Planned Parenthood.

“Planned Parenthood health centers are truly the only place I feel safe to
access that level of intimate care,” said Olivia.

Michelle Trupiano, executive director with Missouri Family Health Council, Inc.,
said her organization’s network of providers helps about 40,000 patients across
the state with family planning services, and Planned Parenthood is the provider
for about half of those. 

She was among a number of people to testify about a medical provider shortage
across Missouri. 

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, primary
health care provider shortages “makes it difficult for low-income, uninsured and
geographically isolated Missourians to receive health care.“

On average, Trupiano said, it takes between three and six weeks for new patients
in Missouri to get a doctor across the health council’s 68 safety net clinics,
several of which are Planned Parenthood. 

Without Planned Parenthood, she said the wait for essential services would
become months-long.

“If you put another hole in the safety net by eliminating Planned Parenthood,
then that safety net is going to break and affect not just Planned Parenthood
and how they keep their doors open to ensure care,” she said. “It’s going to
affect every other safety net provider.”

State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold and chair of the
committee, asked a number of those who testified why the clinics couldn’t just
drop their Planned Parenthood logo and affiliation and continue to operate. 

Wellbery, with Planned Parenthood, said it’s not as simple as dropping
affiliation, adding the organization’s name is known and trusted.

The committee took no action on the bill Wednesday. 

CORRECTION: This story was updated at 10:31 a.m. to correct the spelling of
Susan Klein’s name.


Republish

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide
proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing
guidelines for use of photos and graphics.




ANNA SPOERRE

Anna Spoerre covers reproductive health care for The Missouri Independent. A
graduate of Southern Illinois University, she most recently worked at the Kansas
City Star where she focused on storytelling that put people at the center of
wider issues. Before that she was a courts reporter for the Des Moines Register.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

RELATED NEWS

We don't talk about Leonard: The man behind the right's… by Andy Kroll October
13, 2023
Records reveal 75 years of government downplaying, ignoring… by Allison Kite
July 12, 2023
Former Missouri legislators keep control of leftover… by Erik Galicia June 30,
2023




WE SHOW YOU THE STATE

DEMOCRACY TOOLKIT //

Register to vote | Find your polling place | Find your legislators | Election
results and statistics

 * DEMOCRACY TOOLKIT
   
   * Register to vote
   * Find your polling place
   * Find your legislators
   * Election results and statistics

© Missouri Independent, 2024

ABOUT US

The Missouri Independent is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated
to relentless investigative journalism and daily reporting that sheds light on
state government and its impact on the lives of Missourians. This service is
free to readers and other news outlets.

DEIJ Policy | Ethics Policy | Privacy Policy




Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide
proper attribution and link to our web site.

DEIJ Policy | Ethics Policy | Privacy Policy
© Missouri Independent, 2024
1
X



MISSOURI REPUBLICANS PUSH BILL TO DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD AFTER YEARS OF LEGAL
FIGHTS

by Anna Spoerre, Missouri Independent
January 25, 2024

<h1>Missouri Republicans push bill to defund Planned Parenthood after years of
legal fights</h1> <p>by Anna Spoerre, <a
href="https://missouriindependent.com">Missouri Independent</a> <br />January
25, 2024</p> <p>After years of court losses and legislative stalemates,
Republicans and anti-abortion advocates in Missouri are once again trying to
block Planned Parenthood from receiving money through Medicaid.</p> <p>A Senate
committee debated legislation Wednesday that would change Missouri law to <a
href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/bts_web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=121">make
Planned Parenthood ineligible</a> to receive reimbursements from <a
href="https://mydss.mo.gov/healthcare">MO HealthNet, the state’s Medicaid
program</a>.</p> <p>Though the organization says it hasn’t received any state
funds for nearly two years, as legal fights over past GOP efforts continue to
play out in court, anti-abortion advocates argued Missouri lawmakers must take
action. </p> <p>“Budgets are moral documents,” said Samuel Lee, with Campaign
Life Missouri, who testified in support of the bill before the Senate health and
welfare committee. “And it’s immoral to spend money on organizations that
provide and promote abortions.”</p> <p>Nearly all abortions are illegal in
Missouri, with the exception of medical emergencies. The two Planned Parenthood
affiliates operating in the state – Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned
Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri – no longer provide
abortions in Missouri. But their clinics in Illinois and Kansas, as well as
around the country, still do.</p> <p>In 2020, <a
href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article243901862.html">the
Missouri Supreme Court struck down language</a> in a budget bill that excluded
abortion providers or their affiliates from receiving Medicaid
reimbursements. </p> <p>Lawmakers tried again in 2022, and a Cole County judge
once again <a
href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/cole-county-judge-blocks-effort-to-deny-medicaid-funds-to-planned-parenthood/">deemed
the move unconstitutional</a>. That case was appealed and is once again with the
state Supreme Court.</p> <p>State Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Democrat from Kansas
City, reminded the committee that if Planned Parenthood received a Medicaid
reimbursement, it would not be going to fund abortions. The organization’s
clinics also provide other reproductive health care, such as cancer screenings,
STI testing and treatment and contraceptives.</p> <div class="halfwidth"> <div
class="tipContainer" style="margin-top:0px !important"> <div
class="tipTextContainer"> <h4>Need to get in touch?</h4> <h4>Have a news
tip?</h4> </div> <div class="tipIconContainer"> <a
href="mailto:info@missouriindependent.com">CONTACT US</a> </div> </div> </div>
<p>Advocates for planned Parenthood said cutting off Medicaid funding would only
hurt those most in need of care.</p> <p>“Even though the Missouri Supreme Court
and the Circuit Court of Cole County have ruled that defunding attempts were
unconstitutional, lawmakers continue playing political games to deny patients
high-quality preventive care,” the state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates said in
a joint statement following the hearing.</p> <p>Planned Parenthood officials
said they’ve continued treating all patients, even without reimbursements coming
in.</p> <p>Vanessa Wellbery, vice president of policy and advocacy for Planned
Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said nearly 20% of
the patients of Planned Parenthood affiliates in Missouri rely on Medicaid. </p>
<p>“Any suggestion that patients could just go somewhere else or go to another
provider is simply wrong,” Wellbery said. “There are not enough sexual and
reproductive health care providers to fill the gap. This bill is discriminatory,
it’s irresponsible, and it would issue a devastating blow to our public health
safety net here in Missouri.” </p> <p><strong> <h4>A fight to end public dollars
to Planned Parenthood</h4> </strong></p> <p>Susan Klein, executive director of
Missouri Right to Life, said anti-abortion advocates and lawmakers have worked
hard to fight against public dollars going to Planned Parenthood. </p> <p>“We’re
asking for pro-life protective language to go in statute to prevent our public
dollars from going to an organization that is affiliated with the largest
abortion provider in the United States,” she said. </p> <p>State Sen. Nick
Schroer, a Defiance Republican sponsoring the legislation, assured his
colleagues that there are enough health care providers to “pick up the slack” if
Planned Parenthood ceases to exist in Missouri. </p> <p>“With all the money
that’s coming in to put abortion back on the ballot, I think there’s a lot of
money there,” Schroer said. “Why do they need our tax dollars?”</p> <p>Schroer
was referencing two coalitions that have launched initiative petitions campaigns
hoping to enshrine abortion rights into the Missouri constitution. </p>
<blockquote><p><a
href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/23/gop-renew-push-to-make-it-harder-to-amend-missouri-constitution-by-initiative-petition/">GOP
renews push to make it harder to amend Missouri constitution by initiative
petition</a></p></blockquote> <p><iframe title="“GOP renews push to make it
harder to amend Missouri constitution by initiative petition” — Missouri
Independent"
src="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/23/gop-renew-push-to-make-it-harder-to-amend-missouri-constitution-by-initiative-petition/embed/#?secret=7gr478TClF#?secret=IUg9qID3fh"
width="500" height="282" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p>One coalition, <a
href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/01/19/missouri-abortion-ballot-viabilty-effort-fundraises-1-million/">Missourians
for Constitutional Freedom</a>, has raised more than $2 million to bankroll its
efforts to gather more than 171,000 signatures before May in order to put the
issue on the statewide ballot.  </p> <p>Ryan Conway, legislative director for
the Missouri Department of Social Services, said in the past three fiscal years,
no money has been refunded to Planned Parenthood from DSS or MO HealthNet.</p>
<p>Arthur worried that cutting off Medicaid patients’ access to Planned
Parenthood clinics could result in an even higher financial toll for the
state. </p> <p>“If we are denying people access to the health care provider of
their choice, in which case many times is Planned Parenthood, then you are
creating a scenario where there may be more unwanted pregnancies,” Arthur said.
“And that can cause additional expense for the state of Missouri if those
patients go on to have pregnancies if they’re on Medicaid, their children are on
Medicaid.” </p> <p><strong> <h4> ‘That safety net is going to break’</h4>
</strong></p> <p>Maggie Olivia, a policy manager with Abortion Action Missouri,
said she relied on Planned Parenthood health centers when she was uninsured.
Even though she now has insurance, Olivia, who said she is also a survivor of
sexual violence, continues to get gynecological care through Planned
Parenthood.</p> <p>“Planned Parenthood health centers are truly the only place I
feel safe to access that level of intimate care,” said Olivia.</p> <p>Michelle
Trupiano, executive director with Missouri Family Health Council, Inc., said her
organization’s network of providers helps about 40,000 patients across the state
with family planning services, and Planned Parenthood is the provider for about
half of those. </p> <p>She was among a number of people to testify about a
medical provider shortage across Missouri. </p> <p>According to the <a
href="https://health.mo.gov/living/families/primarycare/">Missouri Department of
Health and Senior Services,</a> primary health care provider shortages “makes it
difficult for low-income, uninsured and geographically isolated Missourians to
receive health care.“</p> <p>On average, Trupiano said, it takes between three
and six weeks for new patients in Missouri to get a doctor across the health
council’s 68 safety net clinics, several of which are Planned Parenthood. </p>
<p>Without Planned Parenthood, she said the wait for essential services would
become months-long.</p> <p>“If you put another hole in the safety net by
eliminating Planned Parenthood, then that safety net is going to break and
affect not just Planned Parenthood and how they keep their doors open to ensure
care,” she said. “It’s going to affect every other safety net provider.”</p>
<p>State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold and chair of the
committee, asked a number of those who testified why the clinics couldn’t just
drop their Planned Parenthood logo and affiliation and continue to operate. </p>
<p>Wellbery, with Planned Parenthood, said it’s not as simple as dropping
affiliation, adding the organization’s name is known and trusted.</p> <p>The
committee took no action on the bill Wednesday. </p> <p><i>CORRECTION: This
story was updated at 10:31 a.m. to correct the spelling of Susan Klein’s
name.</i></p> <style> figure, .tipContainer, .socContainer,
.subscribeShortcodeContainer, .donateContainer {display:none !important;}
.youtubeContainer { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top:
30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom:12px; } .youtubeContainer
iframe, .video-container object, .video-container embed { position: absolute;
top: 0; left: 0; width: 100% !important; height: 100%; margin: 12px 0px
!important; } .newsroomSidebar
{width:35%;max-width:35%;padding:10px;border-top:solid 2px
black;background-color:#d3d3d3;float:right;margin-left:50px;}
.snrsInfoboxSubContainer {padding:10px;border-top:solid 2px
black;background-color:#d3d3d3;} .halfwidth
{float:right;width:50%;max-width:50%;} .indent2Container {margin-left:
1em;margin-bottom:1em; border-left: solid 1px black;padding-left: 2em;} @media
only screen and (max-width: 600px) {.newsroomSidebar
{max-width:95%;width:95%;margin-left:4%} .halfwidth
{float:none;width:100%;max-width:100%;} }</style> <p><a
href="https://missouriindependent.com">Missouri Independent</a> is part of
States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition
of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial
independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: <a
href="mailto:info@missouriindependent.com">info@missouriindependent.com</a>.
Follow Missouri Independent on <a
href="https://facebook.com/missouriindependent">Facebook</a> and <a
href="https://twitter.com/MO_Independent">Twitter</a>.</p>
View Republishing Guidelines
Copy to clipboard