Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher is touring the state talking about the Missouri Legislative Session, which just ended, and touting the legislature’s accomplishments.
During a stop in Springfield Thursday, he praised a newly-approved bill that makes Planned Parenthood ineligible to receive reimbursements from the state’s Medicaid program.
Missouri’s Democratic legislators are concerned the bill’s passage means that even more low-income Missourians will struggle to find health care.
The Missouri Independent quotes State Senator Tracy McCreery, a Democrat from Olivette, as calling the bill “a bizarre quest to just continue to punish Planned Parenthood.” And, she said, “the reality is it’s not punishing Planned Parenthood. This is hurting our very own constituents.”
Plocher, however, claimed Missouri Republicans “don’t stand in the way of healthcare for women." He said, "I'm not trying to take away anything from the women's health care, but we advocate for the child, too."
He pointed to money he said was appropriated for pregnancy resource centers in Missouri. The budget lawmakers approved in May includes $2 million in grants for such centers.
Plocher praised the legislature for passing a $51.7 billion budget that spends less than the $52.9 billion Fiscal Year 2024 budget, for sending the question of ranked choice voting to voters in November and passing an education bill, which increases teacher pay to $40,000 and expands school choice.
This was Plocher’s last legislative session due to term limits. He’s running for secretary of state in November.
Late last year, the speaker was accused of an ethics violation, but the Missouri Ethics Committee dismissed the complaint last month.
