JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued the following statement after the Court denied Planned Parenthood’s motion to dismiss his lawsuit against them for trafficking minors out of state to obtain abortions without parental consent:
“The Court has cleared the way for my lawsuit against Planned Parenthood to move forward. Planned Parenthood has a long history of blatantly violating state law at the expense of both women and children. I will not sit idly by while bad actors traffic minors out of state to obtain abortions without parental consent. This is the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood in the State of Missouri.”
General Bailey’s lawsuit is the culmination of a multi-year campaign to drive Planned Parenthood from the State of Missouri because of its flagrant and intentional refusal to comply with state law. In the suit, Attorney General Bailey lays out Planned Parenthood’s pattern of statutory violations:
In 2018, following at least a half-decade of health-code violations, Planned Parenthood’s facility in Columbia was shut down after staff admitted to having used moldy abortion equipment on women for months.
Also in 2018, Planned Parenthood physicians conceded in open court that, for at least 15 years, the organization failed to comply with state law requiring physicians performing abortions to file reports when women experience medical complications from abortions.
In 2020, the Administrative Hearing Commission determined that even though Missouri law at the time required that the same physician who performs an abortion be the one to notify the woman of the risks of abortion, physicians at Planned Parenthood were not doing so.
Planned Parenthood’s most recent unlawful behavior was captured in an investigative video, when Planned Parenthood staff admitted they traffic minors across state lines to perform abortions without parental consent. Worse, they admit doing this “every day, every day, every day.” The investigation revealed that Planned Parenthood removes minors from school using altered doctors’ notes, transports them into Kansas for abortions, and then quickly returns them—all to avoid the legal requirement to obtain parental consent.
It is against the law in Missouri to intentionally cause, aid, or assist a minor to obtain an abortion without parental consent in another state. § 188.250, RSMo. Attorney General Bailey is seeking injunctive relief.
Further investigation into Planned Parenthood is ongoing.