JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (LifeSiteNews) – Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation Thursday disqualifying Planned Parenthood and any other abortion vendor from receiving taxpayer dollars in the Show Me State.
While most abortions were already illegal in Missouri, HB 2634 cuts off the abortion industry from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for other, legitimate medical purposes, which frees up money from private sources for abortion.
“Prior to 2020, Missouri restricted family planning funds to abortion providers through the budget process,” Missouri Right to Life explained. “In 2020, Planned Parenthood and others filed suit against that defunding process and the Missouri Supreme Court agreed that it was unconstitutional but also stated that the defunding could be done by placing the pro-life protective language in statute.”
In announcing the signing of HB 2634, Parson declared, “Our administration has been the strongest pro-life administration in Missouri history. We’ve ended all elective abortions in this state, approved new support for mothers, expecting mothers, and children, and, with this bill, ensured that we are not sending taxpayer dollars to abortion providers for any purpose. We thank members of the General Assembly for recognizing this important issue and sending this legislation to my desk.”
In response to the law, Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood St. Louis Region & Southwest Missouri declared their intention to remain “open to all,” NPR affiliate KCUR reported. As previously noted by LifeSiteNews, Planned Parenthood staffers in Missouri have been caught on undercover video offering advice on facilitating underage abortions by going out of state, and the abortion giant is under investigation for “transitioning” gender-confused minors.
Fourteen states now ban all or most abortions. But the abortion lobby is working feverishly to cancel out those deterrent effects by deregulated interstate distribution of abortion pills, legal protection and financial support of interstate abortion travel, constructing new abortion facilities near borders shared by pro-life and pro-abortion states, making liberal states sanctuaries for those who want to evade or violate the laws of more pro-life neighbors, and enshrining abortion “rights” in state constitutions.
Taxpayer funding is key to perpetuating the abortion industry in the post-Roe v. Wade landscape. Nationally, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s annual report released last month reveals that the organization committed 392,715 abortions in the most recent reporting period, a record number. Planned Parenthood received $699.3 million in government grants and reimbursements in 2023, a 4.2% rise over its funding the previous year.