By Cheryl Sullenger

St. Louis, MO – In a hearing that will determine the fate of the last abortion facility in Missouri, national news is distorting testimony made by Dr. Randall Williams, Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services by parroting Planned Parenthood’s deceptive talking points that accuse Dr. Williams of “tracking” women’s menstrual periods.

News reports used language to imply nefarious motives that did not exist, elicit emotional responses from readers, and foment false outrage.  Such language included slurring the data-based investigation as “deeply disturbing,” “unsettling behavior,” “outrageous and disgusting,” and “frankly bonkers.”

“The Kansas City Star, which once received an award from Planned Parenthood for its reporting that favored abortion, and other national news agencies have jumped the shark with their blatant bias and propaganda,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.  “They are trying smear Dr. Williams with the inference that he is some kind of pervert when all he is actually doing is trying to ensure women are safe and the laws of the State of Missouri are properly enforced.”

Williams’ agency conducted an investigation into women who had “failed” abortions at RHS Planned Parenthood using information that the DHSS is legally entitled to use to ensure public safety.  A 62-page inspection report detailed the mishandling of abortions for four women who sought abortions at RHS Planned Parenthood in St. Louis.

(At Planned Parenthood’s insistence, that incriminating report was placed under seal, but Operation Rescue obtained it while it was still public.  It can be read online at Operation Rescue’s website.)

Yesterday, the DHSS released a statement about the “inaccurate reporting” that denied the false accusations.  The statement read in part:

Nothing in the Administrative Hearing Commission testimony that Dr. Williams gave on Oct. 29, or in the Oct. 17 deposition, could in any way be cited to support this false claim that he ordered “spreadsheets” or any document to be created to do such. . .

The truth is that as part of our initial inspection, a concern came up that DHSS may not be receiving complication reports for all failed surgical abortions, as required by law. Without a directive from Dr. Randall Williams, regulators devised a means to efficiently investigate that concern using legally-obtained information which was required by law and which Planned Parenthood routinely submits. A Department investigator took the data in DHSS possession and narrowed if from approximately 3,000 abortions conducted in 2018 to 67 instances where the same woman had multiple abortions in the same year. The data was further narrowed to exclude multiple abortions and ultimately identified a case where a failed abortion was not reported by Planned Parenthood, in violation of Missouri Law. [Emphasis added.]

. . . In this case, Planned Parenthood was not compliant with the complication report requirement for failed abortions. Regulators realized this, and as a result they used the tools they had to protect the health of those who seek abortions at Planned Parenthood.

No patient identities were compromised during the investigation and HIPAA was not a factor. 

The full statement is available at this link: https://health.mo.gov/news/newsitem/uuid/bc81f68b-52ff-4e74-8ac8-d107a7336aed/dhss-denies-false-allegations.

“Planned Parenthood’s blatantly false attempts to discredit Dr. Williams were meant to distract from the fact that Planned Parenthood was conducting incompetent abortions and breaking the law,” said Newman.  “They don’t care whose reputation they ruin to keep the public from knowing the truth that abortions done at RHS Planned Parenthood are not safe and have endangered women’s lives.  In my opinion, the DHSS investigation proves RHS Planned Parenthood abortionists are little more than quacks.”

Operation Rescue has documented 74 medical emergencies at RHS Planned Parenthood that have resulted in ambulance transport of abortion patients.

“The hostility exhibited by Planned Parenthood toward the DHSS’s attempts to reach a resolution to their patient care investigations is an indication they insist on behaving as though they are above the law.  Their rejection of oversight is a dangerous and it should disqualify them from licensure in Missouri,” said Newman.

Testimony is expected to continue through Friday with a ruling on the licensing dispute not expected until February at the earliest.  If RHS Planned Parenthood’s loses its abortion license, it will make Missouri the first state since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision without an active abortion clinic.

Please send a note of support and encouragement to Dr. Williams for his courage to protect innocent lives and uphold his duty to protect the public in the face of relentless smears and attacks.

Dr. Randall W. Williams
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
912 Wildwood
P.O. Box 570
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Telephone: (573) 751-6001
Email: randall.williams@health.mo.gov

Please also forward your note to Gov. Parson, who has been the subject of pro-abortion protests at his home this week.

Governor Michael L. Parson
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Telephone: (573) 751-3222
Email: https://governor.mo.gov/contact-us