Even from Planned Parenthood, the tweet is almost too unreal to believe. Here they are, accused of massive health violations in Missouri, and the organization posts a picture of the state, broken in half. “No safe, legal abortion in Missouri,” they posted — not that there ever were any, thanks to Leana Wen’s group.

Would you take a woman you cared about to a clinic with 30 health violations? Governor Mike Parson (R-Mo.) certainly wouldn’t. Nor would anyone in their right minds — liberal or conservative. That’s because most Americans believe what Planned Parenthood does not: safety matters.

When inspectors flagged the St. Louis facility for more than two dozen deficiencies, it wasn’t because they had a political vendetta. It was because America’s biggest abortion business had put lives in jeopardy — and not just unborn one. In the process of destroying 2,532 babies in 2018, the location nearly added four more victims — mothers, who almost didn’t live to tell about the nightmare behind Planned Parenthood’s doors.

From women having multiple botched abortions to a mother who almost bled out, the report filed by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is a scary picture of the organization taxpayers are being forced to fund. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned of the group during this scandal-ridden chapter, it’s this: Planned Parenthood is the master of the cover-up. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Leana Wen spent this week begging the court to bury the evidence against them. What is a surprise, at least in part, is that Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer would oblige, sealing the documents that could help women make a better decision about their care. (Of course, Stelzer isn’t the first judicial activist to allow abortion clinics to hide behind his black robe.)

Of course, Stelzer isn’t the first judicial activist to allow abortion clinics to hide behind his black robe — as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit noted in June Medical Services v. Gee. In that case, the district court took the “unusual step” of trying to conceal abortionists’ identities.

Fortunately for Missourians, Planned Parenthood didn’t make the request in time. Operation Rescue had already obtained a copy of the documents that Wen tried to hide, posting them online for everyone to read. Suddenly, Planned Parenthood’s insistence that the violations “simply weren’t true” were a lot harder to believe.

To Governor Parson, who’s seen all of the incriminating evidence, the obstruction from Wen is “unprecedented.” Five of the seven abortionists who work at the location refuse to cooperate with the state’s interview requests. “No judge should give special treatment to Planned Parenthood in this instance,” he insisted. “We should all agree that, regardless of the number of abortion facilities, every step should be taken to ensure that all laws are followed for the safety and well-being of women’s health care.”

Wen disagrees, even going so far as to fundraise off of the abortion center’s failures. As far as Planned Parenthood is concerned, it’s the state that’s let women down — not the group whose practices put patients at risk. “Donate now,” Wen urges — that way, the group can fight for low standards everywhere!

The St. Louis office has known for a year about this deadline — and still, the organization that claims to care more about women than anyone has done nothing. “It’s frightening,” the location’s director writes, “to think that we are potentially just [days] away from living in a state where people cannot access [abortion].” Even more frightening, most taxpayers would agree, is that we’re years into offering women unsafe ones.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.