The US Now Has Its First 'Abortion-Free' State
Missouri has become the nation’s first “abortion-free” state after its last remaining abortion facility stopped terminating pregnancies, according to Operation Rescue.
Reproductive Health Services Planned Parenthood in St. Louis was the last abortion facility in Missouri, the pro-life activist organization said in a post on its website Jan. 5.
“It remains open, but Operation Rescue has confirmed that no abortion appointments have been available there for months, and none are available anytime in the foreseeable future,” wrote Cheryl Sullenger, senior vice president of Operation Rescue.
Abortion appointments are referred to a Planned Parenthood facility across the Mississippi River in Illinois.
RHS Planned Parenthood recently won a licensing battle with Missouri after the state Department of Health and Senior Services found the facility to be unsafe and out of compliance with state abortion regulations.
After the facility was relicensed, it voluntarily stopped surgical abortions in Missouri.
“While the RHS Planned Parenthood remains open and licensed for abortions, we confirmed that none are being done there. That means this facility is currently acting only as an abortion referral center,” Operation Rescue President Troy Newman said in the post.
“It is obvious that Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, which operates RHSPP, seeks to avoid having to comply with Missouri’s strong pro-life laws, and has opted to abort in Illinois where abortion facilities are essentially unaccountable. This shows a gross disrespect for the lives and safety of the women Planned Parenthood purports to serve.”
Missouri also has an abortion ban that would go into effect if Roe v. Wade were ever overturned, according to Guttmacher Institute.
“The Show-Me State” has been ranked as the eighth-most pro-life state, following Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Indiana, Kansas and Arizona, according to Americans United for Life.
The pro-life group’s “Life List 2021” is based on a “comprehensive analysis of each state’s law and policy protections for human life from conception to natural death.”
Operation Rescue reported that a total of 45 abortion facilities were closed or stopped performing abortions nationwide in 2020.
Ten states saw a decrease in the number of abortion providers, with the largest drops in New York, Washington, Connecticut, New Jersey and Texas.
Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri all have one fewer abortion clinic.
That leaves 706 active abortion facilities in the United States.
“I predict that 2021 will be a crossroads of sorts for the Abortion Cartel and the Pro-Life Movement alike,” Newman said.
“So much remains in limbo at this moment. But whatever challenges 2021 holds, Operation Rescue will continue to work toward our goal of building an Abortion-Free America and a bright future of the children of tomorrow.”
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