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Missouri Bans Planned Parenthood from School Sex Ed Classes

Planned Parenthood considering legal action to stop law from taking effect.

By Hilary White

JEFFERSON CITY, July 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The state of Missouri has voted to improve oversight of abortion facilities and ban abortionists or people associated with abortion clinics from teaching in schools and providing school materials. The new law reclassifies abortion mills as "ambulatory surgical centers," which places them under stricter regulations and puts them under the scrutiny of state officials.

Governor Blunt said at the signing ceremony that the new law is "one of the strongest pieces of pro-life legislation in Missouri history".

Planned Parenthood of Missouri complained that the new law, signed yesterday by Governor Matt Blunt, will require them to spend up to $2 million to refit their abortion mills in order to meet the standards required under the new classification. Paula Gianino, president of Planned Parenthood for the St. Louis Region, said the new law could leave only one abortion facility in the state.

Governor Blunt, however, argued that abortion mills should be able to meet the same standards as other medical facilities. "I say if they can't meet the same basic requirements that other (medical) providers do, then they should shut down," Blunt said.

The law, promoted by Missouri Right to Life, also makes it illegal for Planned Parenthood or other abortionist groups to teach school sex education classes and permits abstinence-only sex-ed curricula. Currently Planned Parenthood, the richest and most powerful abortion organization in the world, teaches in up to 40 St. Louis-area schools.

Gianino told St. Louis Today that the group is considering legal action to stop the law from taking effect.

Smaller, indirect legal measures against abortionists have born fruit in the US. In some states, abortion has been made all but unavailable due to closures of individual facilities on health and safety-related grounds.

Such incremental measures as the Missouri bill underscore growing public opposition to abortion. According to polls, the rise in opposition to abortion is most noticeable among younger and college-educated citizens. In 2006, 30,117 respondents in 48 states showed that as many as 59% of US citizens believe that abortion ends a human life.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

2006 Good News by the Numbers: Positive Poll Results
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07011005.html

Massive Poll Shows Majority of Americans Support Abortion Restrictions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/mar/06032205.html

Study Finds Pro-life Incremental Legislation Cuts Minor Abortion Rates by Almost 25%
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07020901.html

Montgomery County Parents Ready to Take on Homosexual Middle School Curriculum Again
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jan/07010506.html

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