A Senate committee will consider today resolutions that would summon St. Louis Planned Parenthood Director Mary Kogut and Dr. James Miller of Pathology Services to appear before the full Senate. Majority Floor Leader Mike Kehoe (R-Jefferson City) says Kogut and Miller refused to honor Senate subpoenas last year. They were issued subpoenas to attend Senate committee hearings during an investigation of Planned Parenthood. Neither showed up to those hearings.

Senator Kurt Schaefer (photo courtesy; Harrison Sweazea, Missouri Senate Communications)

Senator Kurt Schaefer (photo courtesy; Harrison Sweazea, Missouri Senate Communications)

“It’s not as much about Planned Parenthood and their provider,” said Kehoe. “It’s really about the process that the Senate follows. It’s about what the Senate’s authority is and not on that particular issue.”

The resolutions are sponsored by Senator Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia), who chaired the Senate committee on Planned Parenthood, formed after the release last summer of several videos alleging that the organization was illegally selling fetal tissue. That committee was charged with determining if any state laws were broken by the organization.

Planned Parenthood maintains that those videos were highly edited.  Two people were indicted for falsifying those videos.

Critics called the investigation a witch hunt and said the committee did nothing it set out to do.  They accused Schaefer of pursuing Planned Parenthood for political gain. Schaefer is running for Attorney General.