Missouri's sole abortion provider can stay open for now, judge rules
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ A St. Louis judge has ordered that Missouri's sole outpatient abortion provider _ the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis _ be allowed to keep its doors open for now.
However, in his order granting a preliminary injunction Monday, St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer made clear he disagreed with some of the main arguments made by Planned Parenthood's attorneys.
He ordered the state health department to officially deny or grant renewal of the clinic's license by June 21, in order for the clinic to appeal the decision to the state's administrative hearing commission.
The clinic's license lapsed May 31, while its application for a new license was pending. The clinic sued three days before the old license expired after the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services made clear it would not consider its application without interviewing seven doctors who had provided treatment at the clinic as part of an investigation into patient care.
Five of the seven physicians have declined to be interviewed. Planned Parenthood has said it cannot compel the doctors to comply with DHSS's investigation because they are not employees, but rather contracted through teaching hospitals and medical schools. Stelzer ruled that testimony from four of the physicians was irrelevant to what the court was trying to decide.
_The Kansas City Star
