The recent resignation of University of Missouri Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin and president Tim Wolfe has had an unexpected consequence: it could lead to abortion services provided at the Planned Parenthood in the college's home of Columbia, Mo. The non-profit organization is asking Lewin to lift a ban on clinics on campus before he leaves his post.
Loftin and Wolfe resigned from their posts after a highly publicized protest about the college's lack of response to racial incidents on campus, CNN reported. While Loftin was chancellor, he acted to revoke hospital admitting privileges to Planned Parenthood, according to The Kansas City Star. Doctors who provide abortions at a Planned Parenthood need admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of a clinic, or it could be closed down. Loftin's ban led to the limitation of the Columbia clinic providing abortions services to patients and could lead to the closure of the Planned Parenthood facility.
"Before assuming a new role, we urge Chancellor Loftin to immediately reinstate the appropriate clinical privileges to ensure there is no disruption in health care access for the residents of this community," said Laura McQuade, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, according to The Huffington Post.
Student protester Jonathan Butler, who went on a hunger strike to protest the racial tension on campus, also supports Planned Parenthood on the University of Missouri campus. He noted in a letter that "Planned Parenthood services being stripped from campus" was a concern for him as well as the racial incidents at the school.
