Missouri Supreme Court Forces Taxpayers to Fund Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jun 30, 2020   |   6:48PM   |   Jefferson City, MO

Missouri taxpayers will once again be forced to give money to the billion-dollar abortion chain Planned Parenthood.

On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down state lawmakers’ efforts to defund Planned Parenthood as a “clear and unmistakable violation” of the state Constitution, the AP reports.

By a 6-1 majority, the justices ruled that a state budget law prohibiting Medicaid funds to abortion groups is unconstitutional.

State lawmakers have been trying to defund the nation’s largest abortion chain for years. In 2018 and again in 2019, they passed measures in the state budget that prohibit taxpayer funding through Medicaid to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

Though judges blocked some of the defunding efforts earlier in the case, Missouri was able to defund state Planned Parenthoods of more than $1 million over the past two years, The Kansas City Star reports.

Planned Parenthood is a billion-dollar abortion provider, and one of its former CEOs recently said abortion is its “core mission.” While Medicaid funds do not directly pay for abortions, taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood helps to subsidize its vast abortion business.

Samuel H. Lee of Campaign Life Missouri said he was disturbed when he learned about the ruling.

“It is an outrageous, despicable ruling of an un-elected group of state supreme court judges to undo decades of pro-life policies that restrict funding for abortion,” Lee said. “Please pray for our pro-life lawmakers and lobbyists as we work together to overcome this terrible decision, and once again protect the conscience rights of all Missourians who do not want to be forced to participate in the killing of innocent unborn babies.”

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Defunding Planned Parenthood would be good for taxpayers and mothers and babies. The Planned Parenthood abortion facility in St. Louis has one of the worst safety reputations in the country. According to Operation Rescue, it has an average of one injured woman every 20 days over the past eight years. Among state health inspectors’ recent findings was a botched abortion that took five attempts to finish and a failure to report abortion complications to the state. In another case, state health inspectors said a woman had to undergo a second abortion after the abortionist failed to recognize that she was pregnant with twins.

The state health department tried to revoke the St. Louis abortion facility’s license, but Planned Parenthood sued to block the move. In May, a court order forced the state to renew the abortion facility’s license.

Meanwhile, Missouri lawmakers have been increasing support for needy families. In 2018, state lawmakers set aside $6.5 million for alternatives to abortion services that support pregnant and parenting moms through maternity homes, pregnancy centers and other agencies, according to Campaign Life Missouri. They budgeted an additional $15.7 million for the “Show-Me Healthy Babies” program, the state children’s health insurance program that provides health care coverage for lower income children who are not eligible for Medicaid.

For years, lawmakers have been trying to defund Planned Parenthood at the state and federal level and redirect that money to programs that actually help families in need. But the abortion group repeatedly sues to block the cuts, and activist judges often side with Planned Parenthood, rather than American taxpayers.

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the United States. Its most recent annual report included more than 345,000 abortions and more than $1.6 billion in revenue, including about half a billion in taxpayer dollars. While its abortion numbers and revenue have increased, its patient numbers and health services have declined steadily over the past decade.