>> NEW DETAILS TONIGHT IN THE DISTURBING ATTACK ON WOMEN’S
RIGHTS IN THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
MISSOURI MAY SOON BECOME THE
FIRST STATE IN THE COUNTRY TO
PROVIDE NO LEGAL ABORTION
SERVICES SINCE ROE V. WADE
GUARANTEED A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO
CHOOSE IN 1973.
LAST WEEK THE STATE’S LAST
ABORTION CLINIC CAME UNDER
ATTACK AFTER REPUBLICAN STATE
OFFICIALS REFUSED TO RENEW THE
CLINIC’S LICENSE WHICH EXPIRED
LAST FRIDAY.
LAST FRIDAY. PLANNED PARENTHOOD FILED A
LAWSUIT AGAINST THE STATE.
WE’RE WAITING THE JUDGE’S
RULING.
RULING. NOW REPUBLICANS IN MISSOURI ARE
ADDING A NEW HURDLE BY FORCING
WOMEN TO UNDERGO AN INTRUSIVE
AND UNNECESSARY PELVIC EXAM.
AN INTERNAL EXAM.
BEFORE GETTING AN ABORTION.
IT’S HAVING A TRAUMATIC IMPACT
ON PATIENTS AND DOCTORS ALIKE.
RACHEL WAS THE FIRST 0 REPORT
THE SHOCKING NEWS LAST NIGHT IN
AN EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL REPORT.
>> DOCTORS AT THIS MISSOURI
CLINIC THEY DO PERFORM PELVIC
EXAMS RIGHT BEFORE THEY DO AN
ABORTION WHICH IS STANDARD
MEDICAL PRACTICE WHICH IS FINE.
NOW AS OF THIS WEEK, WHAT THE
STATE HAS STARTED DOING, WHAT
THE STATE GOVERNMENT IS NOW
DOING IS THAT THEY’VE TOLD THE
DOCTORS AT THAT ONE REMAINING
CLINIC THAT THEY MUST DO A
SECOND MEDICALLY UNNECESSARY
INVASIVE PELVIC EXAM ON EVERY
WOMAN BEFORE SHE IS ALLOWED TO
START THE PUNITIVE THREE-DAY
WAITING PERIOD THAT IS REQUIRED
OF ALL WOMEN WHO NEED AN
ABORTION IN MISSOURI
I MEAN, AT THAT POINT YOU’RE
LITERALLY JUST GOING IN TO SIGN
A CONSENT FORM AND MEET WITH A
DOCTOR BEFORE THEY SEND YOU HOME
TO WAIT THREE DAYS.
ONLY NOW BEFORE THEY LET YOU GO
FROM THE FIRST APPOINTMENT YOU
MUST BY ORDER OF THE STATITY
TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES AND SUBMIT
TO AN INTRUSIVE VAGINAL
INSPECTION THAT YOU DON’T NEED
AND YOUR DOCTOR DOES NOT WANT TO
GIVE.
GIVE. >> YOU THIS IS NOT OUR DOING.
WE DO NOT WANT TO THE MAKE YOU
DO UNNECESSARY INVASIVE
PROCEDURE THAT WE WOULDN’T DO AT
THIS MOMENT.
THIS MOMENT. AND MOST WOMEN ARE QUITE
DISTURBED AT THAT.
BUT THEY’RE PRETTY REMARKABLE
BECAUSE THEY’RE APOLOGIZING TO
MY DOCTOR SAID I’M SORRY YOU
HAVE TO DO THERE TO ME.
AND THAT’S SHAMEFUL.
>> SO MAYBE THE STATE IS HOPING
THESE DOCTORS FACED WITH THERE
IMPOSSIBLE IMPERATIVE MAYBE THE
STATE IS HOPING THE BENEFIT TO
THE STATE HERE IS THEY’RE HOPING
THE DOCTORS WILL GIVE UP AND
STOP PROVIDING ABORTIONS ALL
TOGETHER WHICH WOULD LEAVE
MISSOURI DOWN WITH NO PROVIDER
SINCE THEY’RE DOWN TO ONE LAST
CLINIC.
CLINIC. >> JOINING ME NOW, DR. COLLEEN
McFLICK LAS, A BORDER IS
THEIFIED OGGYN AT PLANNED
PARENTHOOD IN ST. LOUIS, THE
LAST REMAINING ABORTION CLINIC
IN THE STATE OF MISSOURI.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING ME.
THERE IS -- I’M A NUMBERS GUY.
TO ME, I THINK ABOUT IT
NUMERICALLY.
NUMERICALLY. THERE’S AN ABSOLUTE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN ILLEGAL ABORTIONS,
INCREASING, WHEN LEGAL ABORTIONS
GO AWAY.
GO AWAY. THAT QUESTION WAS PUT TO
DR. RANDALL WILLIAMS, THE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH IN MISSOURI
WHO IMPLEMENTED THIS NEW
REGULATION THAT RACHEL MADDOW
WAS TALKING ABOUT.
AND LET’S HEAR WHAT HE SAID
ABOUT IT.
ABOUT IT. >> WHILE WE THINK ACCESS IS
ALWAYS IMPORTANT, AGAIN, WE JUST
CAN NEVER SACRIFICE SAFETY FOR
THAT.
THAT. >> ARE YOU WORRIED THAT THE LACK
OF ACCESS WILL JEOPARDIZE
WOMEN’S SAFETY BECAUSE THEY’LL
BE FORCED TO SEEK AN ILLEGAL
ABORTION?
ABORTION? >> I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT TO BE
TRUE THAT YOU WILL SEE AN
INCREASE IN ILLEGAL ABORTIONS.
>> DR. McNICHOLS, MAKE SENSE OF
THAT HE DOES NOT THINK IT WILL
BE TRUE THAT YOU SEE AN INCREASE
IN ILLEGAL ABORTIONS IF THE ONLY
ABORTION PROVIDER IN MISSOURI
GOES AWAY.
GOES AWAY. >> THANKS SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME,
ALI.
ALI. I WILL TELL YOU, I CAN’T EVEN
BEGIN 0 EXPRESS HOW
DISAPPOINTING IT IS THAT DR.
WILLIAMS WHO IS AS OGGYN LIKE
MYSELF HAS CONTINUOUSLY CLOSETON
PUT POLITICS ABOVE WHAT HE HAS
LEARNED AS A PHYSICIAN.
AND WHAT SCIENCE AND EVIDENCE
TELLS US.
TELLS US. HE CONTINUES TO USE
FEARMONGERING TO DISTORT THE
FACTS ABOUT THE SAFETY OF
ABORTION.
ABORTION. REALLY TO POLITICIZE THE ISSUE
AND WITH NO OTHER REASON THAN TO
SHUT DOWN THE CLINIC.
YOU’RE RIGHT.
YOU’RE RIGHT. IT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE THAT AS
ACCESS CONTINUES TO DWINDLE,
MORE AND MORE PEOPLE WILL TURN
TO ABORTION OUTSIDE OF THE LEGAL
FRAMEWORK.
FRAMEWORK. THERE IS NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT.
>> AND THIS REALLY ISN’T A
MATTER OF WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH
OR BELIEVE IN A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO
AN ABORTION.
AN ABORTION. WE’RE JUST DISCUSSING A MEDICAL
PRACTICE HERE.
PRACTICE HERE. WE’RE DISCUSSING THE FACT THAT
AN ABORTION IS A SAFE PROCEDURE
IN AMERICA.
IN AMERICA. LARGELY BECAUSE THERE IS ACCESS
TO IT AND IT IS LEGAL.
AND IT IS A PROCEDURE IN WHICH
THERE IS A PELVIC EXAM BEFORE AN
ABORTION IS PERFORMED.
IF THERE’S A DANGER, THAT BE
IDENTIFIED BY AN OGGYN LIKE YOU.
THERE IS NO ARGUMENT FOR THE
SECOND INTRUSIVE EXAM.
>> YOU KNOW, PELVIC EXAMS ARE
INCREDIBLY INVASIVE AND REALLY
PRIVATE MATTERS.
PRIVATE MATTERS. THE FRAMEWORK WE ARE ALWAYS
USING IN DETERMINING IF SOMEBODY
NEEDS A PELVIC EXAM IS BASED ON
CLINICAL SCENARIO IN WHICH THEY
PRESENT TO US, THE MEDICAL
REASON WE MIGHT BE SEEING THE
PATIENT AND THEN WE ALWAYS
CONTEXTUALIZE THAT IN A
FRAMEWORK OF SHARED DECISION
MAKING.
MAKING. YOU ARE 100% CORRECT THERE IS
ABSOLUTELY NO REASON IN ANY
PERSON SEEKING AN BORTION THEY
WOULD NEED MULTIPLE PELVIC EXAMS
OTHER THAN TO ADJUST ANOTHER
HOOP TO THE MANY THINGS THEY’RE
HAVING TO NAVIGATE TO SECURE
THEIR ABORTION ACCESS.
>> I WANT TO READ YOU A TWEET BY
A DOCTOR WHO SAID TODAY I WAS
FORCED BY THE STATE OF MISSOURI
TO.
TO. AN UNNECESSARY PELVIC EXAM ON A
PATIENT TERMINATING HER
PREGNANCY FOR A FETAL ANOMALY.
SHE IS HEART BROKEN OVER HER
SITUATION.
SITUATION. I WAS FORCED TO DO AN INVASIVE
UNCOMFORTABLE EXAM.
UNCOMFORTABLE EXAM. IT BROKE ME AS A PHYSICIAN TO DO
THIS TO HER.
THAT DOES SEEM TO BE GOAL,
DOCTOR, THAT YOU GO TO TRY AND
BREAK DOCTORS OR BREAK THE WOMEN
GOING FOR THIS EXAM WITH AS MANY
HURDLES AS YOU CAN PUT INTO
PLACE.
PLACE. >> WELL, THAT CERTAINLY SEEMS TO
BE A REASONABLE CONCLUSION.
GIVEN THE TACTICS THAT ARE USED
BY THE STATE.
GIVEN THAT THERE IS NO MEDICAL
EVIDENCE AND IN FACT, MULTIPLE
ORGANIZATIONS THE AMERICAN
COLLEGE OF OBSTETRICIAN
GYNECOLOGIST, AMERICAN COLLEGE
OF PHYSICIANS ORGANIZATION LIKE
MISSOURI FOUNDATION FOR HEALTH
ALL OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE
COME OUT IN SUPPORT OF
MISSOURANS IN SUPPORT OF
ELIMINATING THESE TOTAL
UNNECESSARY AND REALLY QUITE
HARASSING PRACTICES THAT THE
STATE IS REQUIRING.
>> ONE OF THE OTHER ISSUES THAT
DR. RANDALL WILLIAMS BROUGHT UP
IS HE SAID MISSOURI HAS SEVERE
STATES AROUND IT AND PEOPLE CAN
GO ELSEWHERE FOR ABORTIONS.
IT’S NOT REALLY THAT CLEAN CUT
BECAUSE PEOPLE LIVE ALL OVER THE
PLACE IN MISSOURI AND IF YOU’RE
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STATE,
THAT’S DIFFICULT.
THAT’S DIFFICULT. BUT WE SPOKE TO A WORKER INNIST
WHO SAID THEY’RE GETTING PHONE
CALLS.
CALLS. THEY’RE GETTING PHONE CALLS FROM
WOMEN WHO ARE WORRIED THAT THEY
WILL BE COMMITTING A CRIME IF
THEY GO TO ILLINOIS TO GET AN
ABORTION.
ABORTION. >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. YOU KNOW, THE FIRST THING I
WOULD SAY IS THAT PERSPECTIVE
THAT WOMEN CAN JUST GO SOMEWHERE
ELSE FOR AN ABORTION IS THE
PORESPECTIVE OF PRIVILEGE.
THERE ARE ALREADY MISSOURANS FOR
WHOM ABORTION ACCESS IS
ESSENTIALLY BEEN LIMITED BECAUSE
OF THE MULTIPLE LEVELS OF
REGULATION AND RESTRICTION.
WOMEN DRIVING MULTIPLE HOURS,
MULTIPLE TIMES, YOU KNOW,
NAVIGATING TIME OFF OF WORK AND
NEGOTIATING CHILD CARE.
IT’S REALLY KHWEIS ASTONISHING
HOW UNREALISTIC AND HOW
UNFAMILIAR DR. RANDALL WILLIAMS
IS WITH THE CURRENT SITUATION.
>> DOCTOR, I APPRECIATE THE TIME
THAT YOU’VE TAKEN TO JOIN US