PPMO Advocates Statement Regarding Patients Fleeing to Other States

Statement from M’Evie Mead, Director of Policy and Organizing at Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri:

“Shame on Gov. Parson for trying to score political points by misleading the public about abortion. Governor Parson is claiming to have reduced abortion in Missouri, but the reality is that he’s forcing Missourians to flee the state and seek abortion elsewhere. Governor Parson cannot claim to have improved Missourians’ health; his administration has cancelled health insurance for thousands of children, failed to address a statewide outbreak of syphilis, and ignored rising infant and maternal mortality rates, especially among Black women and babies. Governor Parson is trying to distract from his dismal record by playing politics with women’s health.

“Planned Parenthood Advocates will continue to hold politicians accountable and fight for Missourians’ right to access reproductive health care, including safe and legal abortion, in their home state.”

Background

Last year, Missouri Gov. Parson and Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams weaponized Missouri’s health center licensing process to try and end access to abortion at the last health center providing abortion in Missouri.
In the same year, Gov. Parson signed into law one of the most extreme anti-abortion bills in the country — chock full of various abortion bans targeting all stages of pregnancy, all in one bill.
A new evaluation shows abortion restrictions in Missouri are forcing people out of state for care. The vast majority of patients seeking an abortion are crossing the state line to access care.
Now Gov. Parson is misleading the public, claiming to have reduced abortion in Missouri when in fact he’s forcing Missourians to flee the state and seek abortion elsewhere.

Abortion access wasn’t eroded overnight. It’s been decades in the making — medically unnecessary laws, weaponizing public health departments, and a political crusade against basic health care has forced patients from all over the state to drive hundreds of miles, twice, to access care. And now, these restrictions are pushing patients to travel even farther — out of state — for care.

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Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri works to protect and expand sexual and reproductive rights and health for all Missourians. It is a joint project of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes and Advocates of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, the advocacy and political arms of both Planned Parenthood affiliates in Missouri.