By Cheryl Sullenger
St. Louis, MO – After repeated attempts to obtain public records related to 911 calls made by the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in St. Louis, Operation Rescue has filed suit against the St. Louis Fire Department in order to compel the to comply with state and federal open records laws.
The suit, filed with the assistance of Alliance Defending Freedom on May 30, 2014, is Deborah Myers v. St. Louis Fire Department, case number 1422-CC01250. Myers is an Operation Rescue staff member.
Operation Rescue requested Computer Aided Dispatch Transcripts and audio files for 911 calls placed from Planned Parenthood, which is located at 4251 Forest Avenue in St. Louis, between 2011 and present. No audio files were produced.
Operation Rescue did receive 57 C.A.D transcripts that were so heavily redacted that even the dates of the incidents were removed.
Until receiving the redacted records, Operation Rescue had 25 documented incidents of ambulances transporting women from Planned Parenthood in St. Louis since 2009, but the 57 records produced to Operation Rescue hint that there were many more. This has raised serious concerns about patient safety at Planned Parenthood and has made Operation Rescue more determined than ever to obtain access to obtain the full records.
“Public access to 911 records is unquestioned. Certainly we expect patient identifying information to be redacted, but the St. Louis Fire Department has gone far beyond that,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Information we get from 911 calls has been valuable at revealing the truth about what is going on behind the closed doors of abortion clinics.”
Other 911 records acquired by Operation Rescue in other cities have uncovered the abortion death of Lakisha Wilson in Cleveland and the fact that other abortion clinic were engaged in practices that were in violations of patient care standards. Some have led to discipline of abortionists. In Birmingham, Alabama, complaints filed on the basis of a 911 call led to an inspection that revealed 76 pages of deficiencies that eventually led to the closure of New Women All Women abortion facility.
“There is a public benefit to having access to 911 information. We have used it to protect women from shoddy and dangerous practices that have injured and even killed ladies at abortion facilities around the nation. Without access to this public information, the abortion clinics can continue to exploit women for profit by cutting corners on patient care standards – all under the guise of secrecy,” said Newman. “Abortion clinics have a lot to hide, so it is no wonder that they would want to keep their problems a secret, but is is completely improper for the Fire Department to help them do that.”
The 911 records are not the only indication that the St. Louis Planned Parenthood poses a serious health hazard. A health department deficiency report issued to the St. Louis Planned Parenthood last year, which was obtained by Operation Rescue, revealed violations in the areas of sanitation, infection protocols, drug handling and expired emergency supplies.
The St. Louis Planned Parenthood is the last remaining abortion facility in Missouri. No hearing date in the case has been set.
Example of Unacceptably Redacted 911 CAD Transcript
Myers v. St. Louis Fire Department Petition