Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Missouri Brings In Witnesses Who Claim Patients' Lives Put At Grave Risk In Hearing On State's Last Abortion Clinic
Reuters: Missouri Cites 'Serious Concerns' About Safety In Seeking To Shut Abortion Clinic
The fate of Missouri's only abortion clinic was at stake on Monday, as a state arbiter heard arguments from Planned Parenthood and state officials who have threatened to close it and make Missouri the sole U.S. state without legal abortion services. Planned Parenthood, the women's healthcare and abortion provider that operates the facility, sued the state health department in June for its refusal to renew the St. Louis clinic's license. The state court judge presiding over the case referred the matter to the Administrative Hearing Commission, an independent arbiter. (Langellier, 10/28)
St. Louis Public Radio: In Hearing On Abortion Clinic, State Lawyers Claim Planned Parenthood Put Patients At Risk
On the first day of an administrative hearing that could determine the fate of Missouri’s sole abortion clinic, attorneys for the state questioned the safety of Planned Parenthood’s clinic and said state regulators acted with patients in mind when they did not renew its license. Lawyers spent hours attempting to prove through witness testimony the state’s Department of Health and Human Services acted legally when it did not issue a renewed license to Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services in St. Louis last June. (Fentem, 10/28)
Kansas City Star: Planned Parenthood’s Abortion Clinic License Hearing Begins
“Grave concerns” about patient care at Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis clinic prompted state regulators to deny renewal of a license to perform abortions at the facility, the Missouri solicitor general said Monday at the opening of a closely-watched hearing. The case before the state’s administrative hearing commission could decide whether Missouri becomes the sole state without an abortion clinic. (Thomas, 10/28)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Attorney General Asks For Another Review Of Down Syndrome Abortion Ban
Ohio’s attorney general has asked a full federal appeals court to review a decision that prevented the state from enforcing a law that bans an abortion after a test shows a fetus has Down syndrome. Attorney General Dave Yost’s office wants the full court to overturn a 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from earlier this month that blocked the law from going into effect. (Heisig, 10/28)
