St. Louis, Mo., Jun 19, 2019 / 16:49 pm
In a legal battle over the closure of Missouri's last functioning Planned Parenthood, state health department officials cited four botched abortions as part of the reason that they do not want to renew the clinic's license, according to reports from the AP.
The closure of the clinic would mean the closure of the last abortion clinic in the state. Last month, Planned Parenthood sued the state of Missouri after the health department declined to renew the clinic's license.
On Friday, June 14, the state's health department sent the St. Louis clinic and the court "documents, a letter and statement of deficiencies," the AP reported, which included details on the four botched abortions at the heart of the licensure dispute.
The records, which were published by pro-life group Operation Rescue in an expose, were ordered to be sealed by St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer on Monday, June 17, after Planned Parenthood voiced concerns that the publication of the documents violated their patients' right to privacy, the AP reported.