PPKM Wins Permanent Injunction in Missouri
For Immediate Release: May 21, 2016
May 11, 2016
Kansas City – Today, a U.S. District Judge issued a permanent injunction, which protects Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri’s (PPKM) license to provide abortion in its Columbia Health Center. PPKM celebrates this legal victory and court affirmed ruling that Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) treated PPKM unfairly and that DHSS, PPKM, and PPKM’s patients were bullied by Sen. Kurt Schaefer. The court states:
“In mid-July 2015, the Missouri Senate convened the Senate Interim Committee on Sanctity of Life, chaired by Senator Kurt Schaefer, to investigate Planned Parenthood’s presence in Missouri. . . . based on the disparate treatment of PPKM by DHSS and the political intimidation directed at the University of Missouri Health System and DHSS, the Court does not find credible the suggestion that PPKM will have its license reinstated without incurring substantial costs and delay . . .”
“The decision today confirms what PPKM has long known - that the state of Missouri unfairly targeted Planned Parenthood and its staff for providing safe, legal abortion, which jeopardized countless Mid-Missouri patients who need access to critical health care options. Furthermore, Senator Schaefer abused his power to further his extreme ideology against Planned Parenthood and its patients,” Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri President and CEO, Laura McQuade said.
“Let this win show, PPKM will answer every ideological attack with fervent conviction that access to safe, legal abortion is a right for which we will always fight. It’s time politicians vacate the doctor’s office and go back to work for their constituents,” McQuade said.
###
Planned Parenthood is a vital resource for our community and for women and families throughout Kansas and Missouri. We are a trusted advocate and source of health care and education for thousands of women, men, and children. For 80 years, women have relied on Planned Parenthood to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy.
Source
Planned Parenthood Great Plains
Contact
Bonyen Lee-Gilmore
Sheila Kostas
Published
May 11, 2016
Updated
May 21, 2016