JEFFERSON CITY — A Missouri state court denied a motion to dismiss a Planned Parenthood lawsuit filed by the Missouri attorney general.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed the lawsuit earlier this year alleging Planned Parenthood was trafficking minors out of the state to obtain abortions without parental consent.
Bailey applauded the court's decision to deny Planned Parenthood's motion to dismiss the suit.
"Planned Parenthood has a long history of blatantly violating state law at the expense of both women and children," Bailey said in a provided statement. "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."
Bailey filed the lawsuit as part of a larger effort to get Planned Parenthood to leave Missouri after what he calls flagrant and intentional refusals to comply with state laws.
In the lawsuit, Bailey touches on other violations Planned Parenthood has allegedly made over the years.
In 2018, Planned Parenthood’s Columbia facility was closed after admitting to using moldy abortion equipment on women for months, the lawsuit states.
Bailey notes in the lawsuit that Planned Parenthood physicians admitted in court that for at least 15 years, they did not comply with the state law requiring reports on medical complications from abortions.
In 2020, the Administrative Hearing Commission found that Planned Parenthood physicians were not notifying women of the risks of abortion, as required by Missouri law, the lawsuit states.
Bailey alleged in the lawsuit that an investigative video revealed that Planned Parenthood staff admitted to regularly transporting minors across state lines to Kansas for abortions without obtaining parental consent.
This practice involves using altered doctors' notes to remove minors from school, facilitating abortions and returning them quickly to avoid detection and the need for parental consent.
The lawsuit lays out that Missouri law prohibits intentionally assisting minors in obtaining abortions without parental consent in another state.
In the suit, Bailey is seeking injunctive relief to prevent Planned Parenthood from continuing these practices.
The lawsuit itself is against Planned Parenthood Great Plains. It says the facility has violated many Missouri laws regarding parental consent for minors.
"Planned Parenthood Great Plains has a long and troubling history of failing to comply with the law," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states that Planned Parenthood’s most recent troubling activity in taking minors across state lines, when captured on video, the Planned Parenthood staff admitted doing this "every day, every day, every day."
An undercover video released by Project Veritas shows employees of Planned Parenthood Great Plains (PPGP) admitting to facilitating abortions for minors without the informed consent required by Missouri law.
The video, dated Nov. 11, 2023, captured a conversation between an undercover reporter and PPGP managing director "Lashauna" and employee "Priscilla Jones." The reporter posed as a person seeking an abortion for a 13-year-old girl without parental knowledge.
The PPGP employees informed the undercover reporter that while elective abortions are illegal in Missouri, they could transport the girl to their clinic in Kansas, ensuring the parents would remain uninformed.
Lashauna reassured that the clinic treats minors as adults, emphasizing, "We never tell the parents anything." The managing director explained logistics, including providing a doctor's note to excuse the girl from school and cutting off the clinic’s letterhead to conceal the destination.
Planned Parenthood would also assist with transportation and potentially cover abortion costs. The managing director stated that PPGP collaborates closely with other clinics, facilitating such procedures "every day."
Bailey is seeking for the court to enjoin the defendant from engaging in transporting minors across state lines.