ST. LOUIS - A top Missouri Democrat is calling for an investigation of the health director, who said he tracked menstrual periods of Planned Parenthood patients.
State House Minority Crystal Quade on Tuesday said Republican Gov. Mike Parson must immediately review if patient privacy was compromised.
Quade added that she's not sure if Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams is fit to serve.
Williams testified Tuesday that he requested a spreadsheet that included the dates of the last periods of a St. Louis clinic's patients.
Williams says the goal was to identify women who needed multiple procedures to complete an abortion. He says a state investigator had access to the information from medical records.
Williams' testimony drew national outcry. Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker described the move as "dystopian" in a Tuesday tweet.
Missouri's health department director says he believes an agreement can be reached with Planned Parenthood that would keep open Missouri's only abortion clinic.
Director Randall Williams testified Tuesday during the second day of a state administrative hearing that will decide if the state can revoke Planned Parenthood's abortion license for its St. Louis clinic.
The state moved to revoke the license in June, citing concerns about "failed abortions." Williams testified that two of the doctors have now been deposed, and the information they provided was helpful in learning what happened with four instances where abortions went wrong.
He believes there are solutions that both the state and Planned Parenthood could accept. The clinic remains open until the Administrative Hearing Commission ruling, which will come no sooner than February.
