JEFFERSON CITY — With the clock ticking on lawmakers to finalize a state budget, the Republican-controlled Missouri Senate muscled legislation through the chamber to block public funds from going to Planned Parenthood.
Democrats staged a 12-hour-long filibuster to blast the proposal, before the measure was approved on a party line 23-10 vote. Details of any deal with the minority party were not immediately available.
The contentious measure is the latest in a yearslong attempt by anti-abortion lawmakers to defund the women’s health care provider.
Although Planned Parenthood and other providers are already prohibited from providing abortions in Missouri in nearly all circumstances, the largely symbolic attempt is aimed at evading legal roadblocks that have stopped previous failed efforts to cut off funding for the clinics.
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“It shall be unlawful for any public funds to be expended to any abortion facility, or to any affiliate or associate of such abortion facility,†the legislation says.
Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, who is carrying the legislation in the Senate, said women can get similar treatment at federally qualified health clinics.
On Tuesday, Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, kicked off a Democratic filibuster when she proposed an amendment to the defunding measure to safeguard access to in vitro fertilization in Missouri, following an Alabama Supreme Court decision this year asserting that frozen embryos are unborn children.
“I don’t want people to have to leave the state in order to have health care that they need,†McCreery said.
Democrats in the minority held the floor until after midnight. In the first seven hours of the impasse, members took two-hour speaking shifts, giving their colleagues time to relax or nap until their voices were needed to keep the parliamentary blockade going.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, previously told reporters the Planned Parenthood debate was little more than political theater.
“They have been defunding Planned Parenthood through the budget for years now,†Rizzo said. “This is distraction politics. That’s all it is.â€
The debate began unfolding against the backdrop of Planned Parenthood supporters lobbying lawmakers in the Capitol.
While the state’s Medicaid program doesn’t reimburse for abortions, Planned Parenthood has previously sought reimbursements for other medical procedures, including cancer screenings, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, and other non-abortion care.
“Providing health care to those who need it is a vital service,†said Sen. Steve Roberts, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
Supporters of defunding Planned Parenthood say its Missouri clinics are affiliated with clinics operating in states where abortion is legal and should not receive money from taxpayers.
Rizzo said the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade means Planned Parenthood already isn’t receiving taxpayer funds.
“(Republicans) have not figured out yet that they won,†Rizzo said. “This is just stuff they can campaign on.â€
Since the fall of Roe, Democratic turnout has been strong in states where the issue has been on the ballot.
Abortion rights advocates currently are gathering signatures to put a question on the November ballot asking Missouri voters if abortion should be restored.
The proposal also represents a key step in the state budgeting process. Previous attempts to defund the organization have been linked to the state’s spending plan, potentially jeopardizing a key source of Medicaid funding worth $4.5 billion.
In order to ensure the Medicaid funding stream isn’t endangered, the House sent the Senate the standalone defunding bill on a party line 104-49 vote in March.
The legislation is House Bi
Jack Suntrup of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Updated at 12:35 a.m. Wednesday.