JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – In a resurrection of the Interim Sanctity of Life committee actions from last summer and fall, Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, presented two Senate resolutions to the Rules committee Monday that would force two people involved in Planned Parenthood’s disposal of fetal remains to appear before the Senate.
Mary Kogut, the president of Planned Parenthood of St. Louis and Southwest Missouri, and Dr. James Miller, the head of Pathology Services, Inc., would both be held in contempt of the subpoenas that required them to attend a Sanctity of Life hearing Dec. 2, 2015 that neither attended. After they failed to appear, Schaefer initiated contempt proceedings he says in order for the Senate to maintain its authority and to obtain the information necessary for
“Essentially, they’re arguing the Senate does not have the authority to subpoena them, which legally is just not true,” Schaefer said. “This is an issue of exercising the Senate’s ability from exercising records from outside frequencies. It’s been done in the past. What we have not been able to find is anyone in contempt and literally refusing to comply.”
The subpoenas for Kogut and Miller also asked for documents pertaining to the sale or reimbursement of fetal tissue disposal or transfer, written communications and policies relating to such practices, and other stipulations.
Chuck Hatfield, an attorney representing Planned Parenthood, only spoke to the subpoena for Kogut but noted that the organization had objected to the subpoena, which he said had been produced unilaterally by Schaefer with little to no discussion from the rest of the committee. Hatfield said the unilateral nature of the subpoena issuance offered “no opportunity to talk about the subpoena, if it was overly broad or burdensome” even though it called for six years’ worth of records.
Some of those records, Hatfield said, would contain privileged medical information of individuals, so Planned Parenthood did not release them with any of that information redacted, objecting to the subpoena in toto.
“We believe Planned Parenthood has done what is reasonable,” Hatfield said. “We think this resolution is premature.”
Schaefer called the unwillingness to release the documents a stall tactic.
Hatfield and Schaefer also disagreed whether or not the courts should be involved with these objections. Schaefer said the subpoenas and any actions on them were solely under the purview of the Senate while Hatfield said the objections to those subpoenas should go to the courts.
If the two resolutions pass through the committee and are approved by the body as a whole, Kogut and Miller would be found in contempt of the Senate and required to defend why they did not follow through on the subpoena on April 18.
