(LifeSiteNews) — After a Missouri Planned Parenthood outlet filed a countersuit claiming it has a “constitutional right” to traffic minors across state lines to obtain abortions without parental consent, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued an unambiguous statement declaring, “Our children deserve to be protected—not trafficked across state lines for dangerous and clandestine abortion procedures at the hands of an organization that has repeatedly demonstrated its utter contempt for the law, parental rights, and safety of the women and children of Missouri.”   

“Missouri parents have the fundamental right to know what medical procedures are being performed on their children, and I will never stop fighting to defend them from Planned Parenthood’s relentless assault on their rights,” proclaimed Bailey.  

Earlier, the Missouri attorney general had filed a suit against Planned Parenthood Great Plains for trafficking minors out of state to obtain abortions without parental consent.  

Bailey’s office said in a statement that the AG’s lawsuit was “the culmination of a multi-year campaign to drive Planned Parenthood from the State of Missouri because of its flagrant and intentional refusal to comply with state law.”

“Planned Parenthood’s most recent unlawful behavior was captured in an investigative video, when Planned Parenthood staff admitted they traffic minors across state lines to perform abortions without parental consent,” noted the AG’s office. “Worse, they admit doing this ‘every day, every day, every day.’ The investigation revealed that Planned Parenthood removes minors from school using altered doctors’ notes, transports them into Kansas for abortions, and then quickly returns them—all to avoid the legal requirement to obtain parental consent.” 

“This is the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood in the State of Missouri. What they conceal and conspire to do in the dark of night has now been uncovered. I am filing suit to ensure it never happens again,” said Attorney General Bailey at the time. “As a father who held my daughter in my arms for the single hour of her life before she died, I know firsthand how important it is to protect life. Our children are the future. It is time to eradicate Planned Parenthood once and for all to end this pattern of abhorrent, unethical, and illegal behavior.” 

In the most recent filing, the Missouri AG’s office asserted that “Planned Parenthood’s countersuit is a disgraceful attempt to twist the law into a shield for its reckless and immoral behavior.”  

“Opponents of Amendment 3 warned that it was a legal monstrosity that bad actors would exploit in order to terminate innocent children while putting women’s lives at risk. Planned Parenthood is taking it one step further by also undermining parental rights and exploiting young women,” alleged the complaint. “They should be ashamed.” 

“Amendment 3,” a November 2024 ballot measure, passed, embedding a “right” to abortion in the Show Me State’s constitution.  

The AG’s office statement continued:  

Planned Parenthood’s unlawful scheme was caught on camera, where representatives of Planned Parenthood admitted to fabricating fake doctors’ notes to pull minors out of school without the parents’ knowledge, transport them to abortion clinics for secret procedures, and send them back as if nothing had happened—completely bypassing parental consent.

Missouri law is clear: It is illegal to intentionally cause, aid, or assist a minor in obtaining an abortion in another state without parental consent … Planned Parenthood’s open defiance of this law proves once again that they are more than willing to trample parental rights, exploit vulnerable children, and flout the legal safeguards meant to protect them.

Chemical abortions remain banned in Missouri, while surgical abortions resume 

Meanwhile, the Missouri Health Department has rejected Planned Parenthood’s attempts to offer so-called “medication abortions” – chemical abortions committed with pills – an increasingly common method of abortion that allows women and girls to induce abortion at home, avoiding the surgical destruction of unborn infants at an abortion facility. In 2023, almost two-thirds of abortions were committed via pills.     

“Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which operates clinics in the St. Louis region, Rolla and Springfield, and Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates clinics in Kansas City and Columbia, received a letter from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on Thursday stating their complication plans did not meet state requirements,” stated the Missouri Independent, meaning that chemical abortion remains unavailable in Missouri.

On the same day that the Missouri Health Department blocked pill abortions in the state, Planned Parenthood was able to legally resume surgical abortions in St. Louis, according to an Associated Press (AP) report.