Missouri AG accuses Planned Parenthood of trafficking minors out of state for abortions
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is seeking a court order against Planned Parenthood to prevent the nation's largest abortion provider from transporting minors out of state for abortions without parental consent, a claim the organization has denied.
The attorney general announced the legal action against Planned Parenthood Great Plains on Thursday as part of a multi-year campaign to drive Planned Parenthood from the state. In an interview with The Christian Post, Bailey claimed the organization has a history of refusing to comply with Missouri state statutes.
"We are not going to let this go," he said. "This is a lawless cult of death that is committed to their willful refusal to comply with state statutes."
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The legal filing highlights footage conservative activist group Project Veritas released in December that purports to show Planned Parenthood Great Plains employees telling an undercover reporter that it helps transport minors across state lines for abortions without parental consent.
The nonprofit recorded the video in November 2023, according to the time stamp.
Bailey pledges to use all the resources at his disposal to "hold any wrongdoers to account," including individuals who helped transport minors out of state or failed to comply with mandatory reporting requirements.
"[Planned Parenthood] should no longer be allowed to operate in the state of Missouri, and we're not going to let that go," he said. "We will continue to pursue them using every available resource we have until such time as they're driven from the state of Missouri."
Planned Parenthood of Great Plains did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment about the Project Veritas video or the attorney general's lawsuit.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains President and CEO Emily Wales told The Columbia Missourian that Planned Parenthood doesn't provide transportation for patients, stating that Kansas law requires minor patients seeking abortion to have parental consent or a court order.
“We will continue following state and federal laws and proudly providing Missourians with the compassionate sexual and reproductive care that remains available to them in a state with a total abortion ban,” Wales said.
The legal filing lists several code violations that Planned Parenthood has violated over the years, stating that in 2018, the Planned Parenthood facility in Columbia shut down after its staff admitted it had used moldy equipment on women who came for abortions.
That same year, Planned Parenthood admitted in court that it had failed to comply with a state law requiring physicians to file reports about medical complications after an abortion.
In 2020, the Administrative Hearing Commission determined that a Planned Parenthood physician continued to violate this reporting law despite her claims in 2017 that she was complying with it. The same commission determined that Planned Parenthood violated a state law requiring the physician who commits the abortion to be the one to inform the woman about the risks of abortion.
Following the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Missouri enacted a near-total ban on abortion, with exceptions for medical emergencies. Even if Planned Parenthood is not performing abortions in Missouri, the attorney general contends that the nation's largest abortion provider should not be permitted to operate in the state even if it does offer other services.
"Planned Parenthood is not providing safe or ethical healthcare," Bailey said. "That's the point I'm making. When they're using moldy abortion machines, even if they're not providing abortions, that demonstrates an unwillingness to adhere to basic health and safety standards."
In the Project Veritas video, the managing director of a Kansas City Planned Parenthood, identified as Lashuana, laughed as she told the undercover operative that the clinic helps transport minors for abortions "Every day." The reporter in the video pretended that he was seeking an abortion for a 13-year-old and that he did not want the girl's parents to find out.
The managing director assured the undercover operative, "We never tell the parents anything. She's an adult in our clinics."
When the journalist asked about transporting the girl to Kansas for an abortion, Lashuana assured him that this was not "their first rodeo." She instructed him to call Planned Parenthood in Kansas and ask for a "bypass," explaining that this was "just not letting the parents know."
When the reporter asked additional questions about arranging the pretend abortion for a minor, Lashuana said that Planned Parenthood would write a doctor's note to excuse the girl from school so she could have one without parental approval. The managing director said that Planned Parenthood would arrange for someone to pick the child up and take her for the abortion.
"You can't look at the Project Veritas video in isolation," Bailey told CP. "I think that this establishes a pattern of behavior, a history of lawlessness. At this point, I am convinced, and I think that the evidence establishes, that Planned Parenthood is more committed to the destruction of human life than they are to the health and safety of women."
Republican lawmakers in Missouri recently gave initial approval for a bill that would bar Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding from the state. The lawmakers argued that Planned Parenthood should not receive any public funding, an effort that Bailey said he supports.
"Why would we pay for an organization that's conspiring to violate state law?" Bailey asked, referencing the Project Veritas video.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
