Judge denies Planned Parenthood's request to dismiss video-based lawsuit
Anna Spoerre | June 20, 2024 | 12:00 PM CDTA lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey accusing Planned Parenthood of transporting minors out of state for abortions will move forward, a judge ruled Tuesday evening.
The lawsuit is based on conversations between Planned Parenthood staff and a man with Project Veritas who secretly filmed the staff while inquiring about an abortion for his fake 13-year-old niece.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which runs the Kansas City area clinic where the video was taken, asked that the judge dismiss the lawsuit shortly after it was filed.
“We’re reviewing all our options and will continue to vigorously defend this case based on hypotheticals and fictitious patients,” Erin Thompson, general counsel with Planned Parenthood Great Plain, said in a statement Wednesday.
At a hearing in early June, John Andrew Hirth, an attorney for Planned Parenthood, said there was no proof the Kansas City area clinic broke the law.
“There’s no allegation that any abortion has been performed either in Missouri or outside of Missouri, with or without parental consent here,” Hirth said. “The whole conversation is hypothetical.”
But Boone County Judge Brouck Jacobs found merit for moving forward with the case. He did not issue an opinion along with his ruling explaining his reasoning.
“This is the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood in the State of Missouri,” Bailey said in a statement Tuesday following the ruling. . . .
https://www.stlpr.org/health-science-environment/2024-06-20/missouri-planned-parenthood-andrew-bailey-project-veritas-lawsuit-remains
Wow, a Republican actually willing to fight against Planned Parenthood instead of funding them.
