{"id":324524,"date":"2025-01-14T16:45:44","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T22:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=324524"},"modified":"2025-01-14T23:36:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T05:36:50","slug":"planned-parenthood-great-rivers-abortion-democracy-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/planned-parenthood-great-rivers-abortion-democracy-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Planned Parenthood Great Rivers’ new CEO: Abortion is about ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Planned Parenthood Great Rivers \u2014 an affiliate with locations in the cities of St. Louis<\/a>, Springfield, and Rolla in Missouri, as well as in Fairview Heights, Illinois \u2014 has announced<\/a> a new CEO, who recently argued (to no one’s surprise) that access to abortion is an issue of “democracy” and “reproductive freedom.”<\/p>\n

New CEO Margot Riphagen was formerly the affiliate’s VP of External Affairs, worked<\/a> at NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri (now Abortion Action Missouri), and led the coalition of pro-abortion organizations that successfully supported Missouri’s pro-abortion Amendment 3<\/a>, which is likely to undo the safety laws surrounding state abortion facilities. These laws \u2014 dubbed \u2018TRAP\u2019 laws (\u201ctargeted regulation of abortion providers\u201d) \u2014 include a 72-hour waiting period between meeting with the abortionist and undergoing an abortion, an informed consent requirement including a sonogram and a statement to be signed by the woman, a requirement for abortion businesses to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers, and a regulation requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. The laws also require abortion facilities to be located within 30 miles of a hospital and submit all aborted baby body parts to a pathologist. In addition, the abortionist who initially sees the patient would have to be the one who commits the abortion.<\/p>\n

All of these speak to informed consent, safety, and continuity of care \u2014 but the abortion industry, which claims abortion is “health care” \u2014 is having none of it.<\/p>\n

In an interview with NPR<\/a> released on Monday, Riphagen noted that despite the passage of Amendment 3, abortions are still not being carried out in the state because of “the state’s burdensome licensing requirements.” However, she said, the “state-of-the-art” Planned Parenthood location “just across the river” in Fairview Heights, Illinois, is ready and willing to commit abortions on women from Missouri.<\/p>\n

While Riphagen said she believes that the “will of the people” will ultimately prevail and abortions will resume in Missouri, she is concerned about politicians passing pro-life legislation. She added, “It’s the endless shenanigans of the Missouri legislature that will continue to be an obstacle and we will continue to fight until we do break that Republican supermajority, until we are able to be in a place where the will of the people truly is respected, because for us, this is also a democracy issue, right? The people have spoken. Let’s move forward.”<\/p>\n