Committee hears testimony from DHSS on Planned Parenthood

A State Senate Committee met again Tuesday at the state Capitol over the ongoing controversies surrounding Planned Parenthood.

The Committee on the Sanctity of Life heard testimony from the Department of Health and Senior Services.

Several questions were connected to the Planned Parenthood in Columbia and the doctor who works there.

There had been questions over whether she has the correct credentials to perform her duties at that clinic.

At the meeting Tuesday afternoon, the DHSS director told senators they believe the facility was properly licensed.

Senator Kurt Schaefer demanded answers from DHSS.

“I get the feeling no one at DHSS is taking this seriously,” said Shaefer.

Commitee members in the hearing were referring to an aborted fetus as a “dead baby,” while DHSS staff were using the term, “a product of conception.”

DHSS Director Gail Vasterling claimed she did not know the name of the pathologist who received the aborted fetuses, how much tissue the pathologist actually received, or what was in the pathology report.

The response came after she was asked to provide that information in the last Senate hearing and the House hearing.

Vasterling did maintain that she believed the doctor at the Columbia Planned Parenthood had all the proper privileges.

The committee also heard from MU Chancellor Bowen Loftin, who spoke on behalf of MU Health.