In This Issue
- Legislators in Missouri are fighting to defund the largest abortion provider in the country.
- The damage that Planned Parenthood wreaks on today’s youth goes beyond abortion.
- What can you do to help spread the truth about Planned Parenthood? We explain!
Missouri’s Fight against Planned Parenthood
By Katherine Van Dyke
Pro-life lawmakers in Missouri are continuing their fight against Planned Parenthood with an initiative to defund the organization in Missouri once and for all. The news came last week after Senator Nick Schroer (R) sponsored a modified bill that, if passed by Missouri’s Supreme Court, would no longer allow Planned Parenthood and other abortion affiliates to receive reimbursements from the state’s Medicaid program—MO HealthNet. This caused a buzz among pro-lifers and pro-abortion Missourians alike, as Missouri has fewer exceptions for abortion than most states following Dobbs.
This is not the first time in recent years that Missouri lawmakers have tried to take down Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities in the state. Since 2020, Missouri Republicans have introduced similar bills on four other occasions, including the following:
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.
Missouri’s Planned Parenthood clinics in St. Louis and Kansas City have argued that since they haven’t been performing abortions in their clinics since 2022, losing funding from the state would be detrimental to women’s health in the state since they also provide “cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment and contraceptives.”
Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region has not disassociated from abortion, however, as it continues to recommendthat women travel out of state for abortions due to Missouri’s restrictions. Susan Klein, executive director of Missouri Right to Life, testified to the Missouri Senate committee and said that Missourians are 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.”
Another thing to note is that when the decision to reintroduce the bill was made last Wednesday, it was a week after the pro-abortion activist group Missourians for Constitutional Freedom announced its strategy of collecting signatures to get abortion on the ballot for elections in November. To no surprise, the ACLU of Missouri and Planned Parenthood’s affiliate in Missouri have contributed to and supported this pro-death petition. In response to Planned Parenthood’s funding toward the ballot initiative, Senator Schroer asked a rather simple, yet fair, question: “With all the money that’s coming in to put abortion back on the ballot, I think there’s a lot of money there [Planned Parenthood]. Why do they need our tax dollars?”
While the committee has not yet voted on the bill, we at STOPP are calling for action to help these men and women stay strong and defend all human beings.
First, the power of prayer is always our best weapon against abortion. Please pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, courage, and wisdom for all the lawmakers involved with this bill. And second, please write to encourage your state senators in Missouri to vote yes to Bill SB810 and defund Planned Parenthood in Missouri.
Planned Parenthood Kills First but Does Other Damage Too
By Ed Martin
Earlier this week, STOPP Director Ed Martin was interviewed on a radio station in central Indiana. During the interview, Ed and the host covered the STOPP CEO report and had an extended discussion of Planned Parenthood’s record of racism.
Then the radio host took calls from listeners. One caller said, “Planned Parenthood does so much more than just abortion.” Well, that is one way to put it, and the caller is mostly right.
The primary work of Planned Parenthood is killing. And, with nearly $1 billion of federal tax money and tens of millions of dollars from state and local authorities, Planned Parenthood kills thousands through abortion—both chemical and surgical. But Planned Parenthood also undertakes many efforts to steer women toward abortion through other initiatives: namely so-called “sex education” and “health service counseling,” which always includes abortion as a “great” solution. (Increasingly, Planned Parenthood also administers chemical drugs for so-called “gender transformation.” It’s a big moneymaker for the organization, but it’s not its primary purpose.)
Because Ed had received an informative email from ALL founder and president Judie Brown just the day before his interview, he was ready to answer the caller with a very specific example. Judie had sent a link to a Planned Parenthood video showing its “sexual education” initiative, which undermines virginity (and chastity) by calling virginity a “social construct” that every individual can decide for themselves. The video covers in graphic detail how all sorts of sexual activity is simply an expression of who we are. Anything goes! And when anything goes, Planned Parenthood knows that abortion will follow.
The Planned Parenthood video is disturbing, and we don’t encourage anyone to watch it. However, this article covers it.
It’s troubling but clarifying too. As Ed told that Indiana caller: Planned Parenthood does even more than killing, and it’s all bad.
Call to Action
Help us spread the word about STOPP and about what exactly Planned Parenthood is doing.
Katie Brown, American Life League’s director of communications, has great success at fielding inquiries and managing media requests. ALL press releases and staff interviews end up on every media channel imaginable—from EWTN to FOX News.
Please consider helping us spread the word about STOPP by putting your local radio, TV, or online media in touch with us. Please forward this Wednesday STOPP Report to anyone who might be interested in talking about our work. You can CC Ed Martin on his email at emartin@all.org.
We have experts who can speak on all aspects of the fight to stop abortion, and we especially hope to talk about Planned Parenthood.
Items of interest for media include our CEO report, our analysis of the national Planned Parenthood annual report, and our rapid and ready comments on Planned Parenthood in the news. Forward these Wednesday STOPP Reports to any contacts you have.
Thank you.