JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Republican supermajority in the Missouri statehouse is one step closer to defunding Planned Parenthood. 

After 12 hours of debate and a party-line vote, lawmakers are trying to take a different approach to denying Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. It’s a topic that is not new to the General Assembly or the court system. 

“It has to go to court again because there are over 30,000 people depending on Planned Parenthood health centers throughout the state for access to basic health care,” Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, said. “It became clear this week, after this 11-hour debate, that the Senate Democrats could not find eight Republicans to change their mind in the state Senate.”

Even though abortion is illegal in Missouri, there’s a push to stop state dollars from going to abortion providers and their affiliates. 

“On behalf of the Republican leadership, the biggest Republican victory we had this week was defunding Planned Parenthood and passing a bill to do that,” Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, said. 

Senate Bill 767 would prevent the state’s Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving reimbursement for patients on the state’s program, making it nearly impossible for the clinics to continue seeing Medicaid patients.

This comes after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled twice in recent years that lawmakers cannot deny Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood through the budget process. Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, is sponsoring the legislation in the Senate and says this is a different approach. 

“So, any dollar that is not going to support overhead is a dollar that is going to their parent organization, to provide abortions even outside of the state,” Coleman, who is running for secretary of state, said. “When people say this is about limiting people’s choices, no one still has the choice; they could choose to pay for those services at a clinic that is affiliated with an abortion provider, or the clinic could no longer be affiliated with the abortion provider.”

Coleman said this bars Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for medical services. The Senate’s budget chairman said this is a priority for a certain group of GOP members. 

“Missouri has already defunded Planned Parenthood and since I’ve been the appropriations chair, there have been no dollars reimbursed to a Planned Parenthood facility from the state,” Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, said. 

This legislation comes as one coalition is circulating a petition to gather signatures in hopes of asking voters later this year to enshrine abortion right into the state’s constitution. 

“This is not going to be a debate that’s settled on some random night in April; this is going to be decided in November,” Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, said. 

“It’s really wild to me that this very well may be the first bill that passes both bodies and it’s so interesting that the Republican majority is choosing yet another attack on women’s reproductive healthcare,” House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said. 

The legislation now heads back to the House for final approval. Some GOP members are saying they plan to stall other legislation until the governor signs the bill into law.