The Missouri Senate on Thursday ordered Mary Kogut, CEO of Planned Parenthood of St. Louis and Southwest Missouri to come to the state capital April 25 to explain why she shouldn't be held in contempt for failing to testify and turn over documents. | Getty Images Missouri threatens to jail Planned Parenthood official

Missouri Republicans are threatening to jail the CEO of the local Planned Parenthood in an escalating battle over the agency's fetal tissue disposal practices.

The Missouri Senate on Thursday ordered Mary Kogut, CEO of Planned Parenthood of St. Louis and Southwest Missouri, and pathologist James Miller, to come to the state capital April 25 to explain why they shouldn't be held in contempt for failing to testify and turn over documents. If found in contempt, they could face fines or up to 10 days in jail.


It is the first known instance of a state legislature threatening to jail a Planned Parenthood official and the latest in a series of state actions against the organization in the wake of the sting videos released last summer by anti-abortion activist David Daleiden.

Planned Parenthood argues that Missouri lawmakers are demanding confidential patient information they are bound to protect. State lawmakers say the patient information can be redacted.

State Sen. Kurt Schaefer — who is running for state attorney general — is leading the charge. He also led an attempt to defund Planned Parenthood in the state.

"We have made it clear that no personally identifiable information is requested," Schaefer said in a release. "I believe we will receive some sort of documents by April 25. If not, we have the option of moving to the next step in this process, which would be to file another resolution outlining the possible punishments for contempt."

The resolution is about "keeping the integrity of the process," he said, since the Senate doesn't know what information Planned Parenthood is failing to turn over.

The Daleiden videos, which allege that Planned Parenthood illegally trafficks in human tissue, have spurred a wave of state bills to defund the organization and investigate its work.

The resolution "shows the length that politicians in Missouri will go to punish women for seeking health care," Planned Parenthood Action Fund president Cecile Richards said in a statement. "People in Missouri and across the country won't go back to being treated like criminals, and health care providers should not be punished for protecting their patients and defending the ability of individuals to make their own health care decisions."