A Missouri state senator began moving forward Wednesday with an effort to hold a Planned Parenthood official in contempt for refusing to provide documents on how the organization handles fetal remains.
Sen. Kurt Schaefer filed resolutions summoning Mary Kogut, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, and Dr. James Miller, owner of the suburban St. Louis Pathology Services Inc. that reviews tissue from Planned Parenthood, to the Senate at 10 a.m. April 18 to answer why they have not complied with a Senate subpoena.
The resolutions would authorize Senate leaders to direct the sergeant-at-arms to bring Kogut and Miller to the Capitol. The Missouri Constitution allows the Senate to punish those who demonstrate "contemptuous behavior" with up to a $300 fine, 10 days in jail or both.
A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment, and there was no answer at St. Louis Pathology Services after hours on Wednesday. However, Kogut previously has said the Planned Parenthood chapter disputes the authority of the Senate's subpoena for the documents.
Schaefer said he wants to give Kogut and Miller the chance to show up, and he left open the possibility they could invoke their Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions that could incriminate themselves. At the same time, he asserted any punishment the Senate imposes would follow the due process of the chamber, not the courts, because of the separation of powers.
"I would hope that it doesn't come to that point," he said, but it's important to show there are consequences to ignoring a Senate subpoena.
The resolutions must pass a committee before coming to the Senate floor for a vote.
Schaefer, a Republican from Columbia, is chairman of a Senate committee that began investigating Planned Parenthood after undercover videos released last summer alleged the organization was illegally selling fetal tissue for profit. Since then, Republican lawmakers have proposed several measures to restrict abortions and regulate Planned Parenthood, including barring the organization from receiving money from Medicaid for non-abortion services such as vaccinations.
Planned Parenthood has denied the videos' allegations. A Texas grand jury recently cleared Planned Parenthood and instead indicted two anti-abortion advocates involved in making the videos. And Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has cleared the organization of wrongdoing.
Schaefer says lawmakers cannot be sure of that without the documents the Senate is seeking, which include all of Planned Parenthood's policies and written communication on disposing fetal tissue.
Sen. Jill Schupp, a Democrat from Creve Coeur who also served on the committee investigating Planned Parenthood, said the organization has done nothing wrong.
In a statement in January, Kogut said the St. Louis clinic doesn't participate in a fetal tissue donation program, is regulated by the state health department and complies with state laws. The St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic is the only clinic in the state that provides abortions.