Missouri Senate passes bill to defund area health care provider [Video]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KY3) – Though Planned Parenthood of Great Plains and its sister chapter in the St. Louis region do not provide abortion care, they are poised to lose their eligibility for Medicaid reimbursement under a bill passed by the Missouri Senate early Wednesday morning.

The bill, HB 2634, which already cleared the Missouri House, carves out any “abortion facility,” none of which exist in Missouri, as well as any “affiliate thereof,” from receiving any public funds, including through MoHealthNet.

According to Planned Parenthood of Great Plains, roughly one in five patients in Missouri are on Medicaid, meaning the organization’s survival would be in jeopardy if the House passes the bill and Gov. Mike Parson signs it, both of which are considered very likely.

State Rep. Wendy Hausman, a Republican of St. Peters, is one of the dozens of Republican co-sponsors of the bill and admits it’s a symbolic gesture of rebuke.

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