More than 2,000 petitions have been delivered to the leader of the University of Missouri's Columbia campus demanding the reversal of a decision that threatens a Planned Parenthood clinic's ability to continue performing medically induced abortions.
Planned Parenthood says students, faculty and a group called MU for PP met with Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin on Tuesday. They're demanding the full instatement of all Planned Parenthood training contracts and so-called "refer and follow" privileges.
The privileges are significant because they'd been granted to a Planned Parenthood doctor and played a role in its Columbia clinic obtaining a license to begin offering abortions in August. State law requires physicians or centers providing abortions to have certain agreements with local hospitals for patient care.
The university said in a news release that Loftin is committed to continuing discussions with the group.