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Missouri state senator says a ‘sexual predator’ works in the Capitol Building

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missouriindependent.com – Rudi Keller – 2025-03-27 05:55:00

by Rudi Keller, Missouri Independent
March 27, 2025

Accusations that a sexual predator is working in the Missouri Capitol Building with protection from “powerful people” abruptly ended state Senate debate Wednesday on a bill adding physician assistants and emergency medical personnel to medical providers covered by a peer review process.

The Senate had just defeated an amendment to the bill offered by state Sen. Nick Schroer, a Republican from Defiance, to make some records from peer review proceedings available for lawsuits alleging deliberate acts against patients.

The amendment was needed, he said, to open up records of sexual assaults and other criminal acts.

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Defeat of the amendment offended Democratic state Sen. Tracy McCreery of Olivette, and she was discussing the defeat with state Sen. Stephen Webber of Columbia when he dropped the accusation.

“There are sexual predators who work in this building,” Webber said. “There are powerful people who know who those people are and are protecting them. That is happening right now.”

Webber said he could not reveal the identity of the person he was accusing nor could he reveal any details of where in the Capitol the person worked or the position of the person who told him of the problem.

He had promised the victims confidentiality, he said.

McCreery said she, too, was aware of the problem, and understood the desire of the victim to remain anonymous.

“I am respectful of that as well,” McCreery said. “But I’m also very careful with my group of people.”

Interviewed after the Senate adjourned, Webber said he could not give any more details. When lawmakers are in session, there are executive branch officials and staff, legislators and staff, lobbyists, contract cleaning crews and representatives of the media working in the Capitol Building.

“If the victims wanted me to say something, I would,” Webber said. “If they wanted me to name names, I would. The victims don’t want me to, so I’m not going to.”

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Rusty Black, a Republican from Chillicothe, would create new training requirements for ambulance district board members in addition to making emergency medical personnel subject to the peer review process.

Schroer said the peer review process, which is completely confidential under state law, is being used to hide sexual mistreatment of patients and the response of employers.

“They are using this old, archaic statute that was meant for good, and finding that if they put anything into the system they can conceal it,” Schroer said after the Senate adjourned for the day.

Schroer said he was not aware of the accusations discussed by McCreery and Webber.

In her discussion with Webber, McCreery noted that victims of sexual assault had been visiting with lawmakers during the day to advocate for stronger laws.

The review process is being used to conceal too much, she said.

“When this process, this formal peer review process, has been worked and twisted enough that it’s now being used to hide allegations of sexual assault and sexual abuse, that is wrong,” she said. “Why are we willing to protect abusers?”

Webber said he had no answer to that question. That is when he began discussing the problem in the Missouri Capitol.

“I will say there’s certainly people, powerful people in this building,” Webber said, “who, beyond any doubt, I’m not alleging, I know for a fact, of powerful people in this building who are currently protecting sexual predators.”

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Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

The post Missouri state senator says a ‘sexual predator’ works in the Capitol Building appeared first on missouriindependent.com

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Missouri health department rejects Planned Parenthood plan to start medication abortions

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missouriindependent.com – Anna Spoerre – 2025-03-28 18:18:00

by Anna Spoerre, Missouri Independent
March 28, 2025

Missouri Planned Parenthood clinics remain unable to offer medication abortions after the state rejected their complication plans this week. 

Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which operates clinics in the St. Louis region, Rolla and Springfield, and Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates clinics in Kansas City and Columbia, received a letter from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services on Thursday stating their complication plans did not meet state requirements.

The decision means that almost five months after voters approved a constitutional amendment restoring abortion rights, the most common method to terminate a pregnancy is not available in Missouri.

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This rejection was based on the criteria of an emergency rule published the same day by the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office. 

That rule requires the complication plan for any facility prescribing abortion medication to more than 10 women a month must: 

Have an on-call OB-GYN who lives within 25 miles of the clinic available at all times for seven days after a patient takes the medication. This physician would be required to treat any complications that arise as a result of the medication unless the standard of care requires someone else to treat them. Provide for patients who live further than 25 miles from the clinic, the name of the emergency room and a physician “within a reasonable distance of the location where the patient will complete the abortion.”Submit the full names of all physicians involved in the local complication plans.

While three clinics —Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis — have resumed some procedural abortions, Planned Parenthood leadership have said they will not begin prescribing medication abortions without an approved complication plan. 

Leadership with Planned Parenthood Great Rivers is still deciding on next steps, a spokesperson said. 

The Department of Health and Senior Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement in February, department spokeswoman Sami Jo Freeman said complication plans are “important to ensure the safety of patients because medication abortions will likely be completed at home without a physician present.” 

When the clinics submitted their complication plans in February, they did not include the names of any physicians involved. The proposals state that patients could contact the clinic at any time with concerns, including an after-hours line staffed by licensed nurses who can refer calls to an on-call physician. 

“If a potentially urgent complication is suspected based on the patient’s symptoms or the patient is not able to return to the health center in a timely way, the nurse will direct them to the emergency department (ED),” the initial plans submitted by Planned Parenthood read. 

With the patient’s consent, the proposal continued, the ER would be told the patient’s medical history if possible. Planned Parenthood would follow up with the patient the next day.

Across the country, abortion medication is the most common method used to end a pregnancy.

In 2023, nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States took place using medication as opposed to in-clinic procedures, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group.   

In states where abortion is legal, medication that induces a miscarriage is available to patients in their first trimester of pregnancy. Patients typically take two doses of medication, the second of which is often taken at home. In recent years, a growing number of women have been ordering abortion medication from online providers in the United States and abroad, including to states where abortion remains illegal. 

According to the FDA, mifepristone is safe to use if taken as directed. Cramping and bleeding are common side effects of the medication. Those prescribed mifepristone are urged to call their doctor if they experience heavy bleeding, abdominal pain or a fever. The same guidance applies to those who recently underwent procedural abortions, experienced miscarriages or delivered a baby.   

Since the medication was approved for use 28 years ago, only 32 deaths have been reported associated with mifepristone, according to the FDA. 

Earlier this month, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a notice of an intent to serve a cease and desist letter to the Planned Parenthood clinics, doubling down on his demand that Planned Parenthood stop performing a type of abortion that its clinics aren’t actually offering patients.

Several Planned Parenthood clinics remained open even after the procedure was outlawed statewide in June 2022. The clinics primarily provide family planning services, cancer screenings and STI testing and treatment, including to patients on Medicaid. 

Shortly after Missourians in November narrowly approved Amendment 3, granting the constitutional right to an abortion, Planned Parenthood sued the state, arguing dozens of regulations on abortion providers were no longer constitutional. 

In mid-February, a Jackson County judge struck down most of the regulations, allowing Planned Parenthood to resume in-clinic procedural abortions for the first time in years. 

Abortion returns to Columbia, opening access for mid-Missouri for first time since 2018

The first abortion to happen in Missouri since the procedure was outlawed statewide in June 2022 took place in February at a Kansas City clinic. In early March, procedural abortions returned to the clinic in Columbia for the first time since 2018. 

And on Thursday, the clinic in St. Louis quietly performed its first two abortions since 2022. 

The clinic plans to take additional abortion patients who are earlier than 12 weeks gestation over the coming weeks, but the number of days abortion is provided in St. Louis will depend on physicians’ schedules, Nick Dunne, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, said Friday.

Staff at the St. Louis clinic did not initially indicate they would bring back procedural abortions this soon. 

“Ahead of the December ruling, our staff had been preparing to start providing medication abortion — including staff training, as well as ordering supplies and medications,” Dunne said in a statement. “Recognizing more recently that we were likely to face additional hurdles from state officials on medication abortion, our medical and patient services teams pivoted to allocating staff, equipment, and other necessary resources in order to begin offering procedural abortion again.” 

Planned Parenthood likely won’t be able to begin offering procedural abortions at its clinics in Rolla or Springfield until additional physicians are hired, Dunne said, adding that Planned Parenthood is “working aggressively” to expand their physician numbers.

There are currently two long-term staff physicians and one contracted physician at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which also oversees the clinic in Fairview Heights. The two long-term physicians are both based in the St. Louis area. 

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Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

The post Missouri health department rejects Planned Parenthood plan to start medication abortions appeared first on missouriindependent.com

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PWHL Takeover Tour in St. Louis

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www.youtube.com – FOX 2 St. Louis – 2025-03-28 08:18:10

SUMMARY: The PWHL Takeover Tour arrives in St. Louis at the Enterprise Center tomorrow afternoon, showcasing women’s hockey with the Boston Fleet competing against the Ottawa Charged. Mandy Gottman, VP of Communications for the Professional Women’s Hockey League, emphasizes the excitement as they reach their 99th stop on the tour. The league, formed in January 2024, features top players, including St. Louis native Tommy Gincy Rose, a notable Olympian. This event highlights women’s hockey’s growth, with increased participation in the region. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for warm-ups and to support their teams with signs.

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Mandy Gutmann, Communications for the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), joined the morning show to preview a matchup between the Ottawa Charge and Boston Fleet, who will be playing at the Enterprise Center on Saturday. For tickets, visit ticketmaster.com

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Weather Impact Alert: Severe weather chances ramp up Sunday

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www.youtube.com – KSDK News – 2025-03-28 05:19:56

SUMMARY: A weather impact alert has been issued for St. Louis, indicating potential severe weather on Sunday, specifically between noon and 5 PM. While Saturday will see some morning showers, no severe weather is expected. Early Sunday may also bring non-severe storms, but an enhanced risk for severe weather persists in the afternoon, including threats of wind, hail, and possible tornadoes. Temperatures will reach around 82°F this weekend. Meteorologists urge residents to monitor updates and track storms through apps as conditions remain active into the week, with another round of storms anticipated on Wednesday.

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A Weather Impact Alert has been issued for Sunday’s storm threat. Damaging winds, hail & tornadoes are all possible.

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