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October 30, 2019 by NOW National

Missouri Must Stop Tracking Planned Parenthood Patients’ Menstrual Cycles

Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– You have no privacy.  You have no rights.  Your body belongs to the state. 

That’s the message Missouri women are getting with the news that the state is monitoring the menstrual cycles of women who receive abortion care from Planned Parenthood.  

The state health director, Randall Williams, kept a spreadsheet tracking the menstrual cycles of women to determine who had undergone what he called “failed abortions,” citing a handful of cases in which Planned Parenthood patients returned to the clinic to have another procedure.   

 “They have twisted the process in a way that four patients might jeopardize the health of over one million women in the state of Missouri, because those four patients experienced a rare but known complication,” Dr. David Eisenberg, a physician who works with Planned Parenthood, told St. Louis Public Radio. 

Once again, anti-abortion extremists are inventing reasons to deny women their constitutionally protected reproductive health rights. Abortion is a safe medical procedure that statistically has fewer complications than bringing a pregnancy to term, colonoscopies, hernia operations and knee replacement surgery.   

During China’s “one child” policy, the government kept records of women’s contraceptive use and whether they were sterilized, pregnant, married or single. Donald Trump admires and emulates authoritarian regimes, and his allies in state government are eager to follow suit. 

NOW is calling for a thorough investigation into this invasion of patient privacy and blatant attempt to once again inject politics into the availability and practice of reproductive health care in Missouri.   

Women are not data points on a spreadsheet.  Women are not pawns to use in political games.  Women will not tolerate this outrage, and our voices will be heard. We demand the state of Missouri fire Randall Williams immediately. 

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

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florida_now Florida NOW @florida_now ·
20 Feb

Of the 147 women in the US Congress, only 26 identify as Black. We can fix this. Join Congresswoman @LaurenUnderwood & GA State Rep. @reginalewisward on Tues. 2/21 at 7PM ET, learn about their historic journeys & how we can elect more black women. RSVP ->http://bit.ly/RunNOWFeb21

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17 Feb

#BlackHistoryMonth: In 2022, 134 black women ran for Congress. Join winners US Rep @LaurenUnderwood & Ga Rep @reginalewisward on 2/21 at 7PM ET to learn about black woman candidate reality and what it takes to win. RSVP➡️http://bit.ly/RunNOWFeb21

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16 Feb

#Allies Love the sign! "Old White Guys" allies are treasures! Anti-DEI ones, nope!

@NationalNOW @Tallahassee_NOW @NowPinellas @miamilatina @OrlNOW @brevardnow @now_jax @PascoNOW @FlaGrassroots @Fla_Pol

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florida_now Florida NOW @florida_now ·
16 Feb

Did you know women working full-time in the US still only make 83% of what men are paid? Urge Congress to support equal pay by becoming an @AAUW Two-Minute Activist today: https://www.aauw.org/act/two-minute-activist/paycheck-fairness/

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florida_now Florida NOW @florida_now ·
15 Feb

A fiery email from @Florida_NOW served as the polar opposite of a Valentine’s Day greeting for DeSantis, bristling with condemnations of “racist & undemocratic … culture wars” that “pervert fundamental rights and principles of U.S and Florida governance.” http://floridapolitics.com/archives/588222-now-desantis-autocracy/

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