(Missourinet) – The University of Missouri Hospital’s governing committee has voted to scrap the type of privileges that were granted to a St. Louis doctor, that played a role in the resumption of abortions at the Columbia Planned Parenthood facility.

The state senator heading a committee investigating Planned Parenthood says that change would cause that facility to lose its license that allows abortions to be performed there. Planned Parenthood says it is “outraged” at the change.

Planned Parenthood issued a statement Thursday evening saying MU Health Care has decided to discontinue “refer and follow” privileges. MU Health Care confirmed the change in a statement of its own a short time later. Those were the privileges granted to Doctor Colleen P. McNicholas, the doctor who in August resumed the performing of medicinally induced abortions at Columbia.

Under state law, abortion providers are considered ambulatory surgical centers. Doctors at such clinics must have privileges to perform surgery at a nearby hospital or a written agreement with a hospital to take patients for emergency services.

The state Health Department’s Director, Gail Vasterling, testified to the Senate Committee on the Sanctity of Life that since the Columbia facility was only performing chemically induced abortions and not surgical, the “refer and follow” privileges were sufficient to meet the requirements for that license.

The committee’s chairman, Senator Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia), disagreed with that assertion, but says now that those privileges are being eliminated he believes Planned Parenthood in Columbia will have to stop doing abortions.

“When I had the Department of Health and Senior Services there … and I specifically asked the person that’s in charge of the ambulatory surgery center licensing process, ‘If these privileges did not exist, would this license be able to continue?’ and his answer was, ‘Absolutely not. We’d have to pull the license,’” Schaefer told Missourinet. “So I look forward to that being the next step in this process.”

MU Health Care said the discontinuation followed a review of health care policies and procedures, and was the result of a unanimous vote. The change will be effective December 1.

It says the review was prompted by inquiries from various members of the state legislature and public of MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, who testified to Schaefer’s committee last month that he would look into the privileges and how they had been awarded.

McNicholas is one of two medical providers with “refer and follow” privileges at MU Health Care.

In its statement, MU Health Care’s chief medical officer Steve Whitt said those privileges, “only allow physicians to access their own patients’ information. This level of access to patient information is already permitted by any referring provider, including those not on MU Health Care’s medical staff; therefore, the designation of refer and follow privileges was outdated and unnecessary.”

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri President Laura McQuade accuses MU Health Care of caving to political pressure from Schaefer and his committee.

“This is a continuation of the orchestrated attempt to restrict access to safe, legal abortion in Missouri and to the critical services Planned Parenthood has provided for nearly 100 years,” wrote McQuade.

“We condemn MU Health Care for abusing public trust denying the community access to the health care they deserve,” she continued. “MU Health Care’s decision puts politics above patients and is also a violation of longstanding federal law that prohibits discrimination in the extension of staff or other hospital privileges based on opposition to abortion.”

Planned Parenthood said it will take “any and all legal action necessary” to continue services including abortions in Missouri. It said the assertion that “refer and follow” privileges are “outdated and unnecessary” is false.

“These privileges are increasingly used in hospitals across the country to allow physicians who seldom or never need to admit patients to a hospital the ability to maintain staff privileges. Referring physicians can then follow their patients’ progress if ever needed, but the attending physician at the hospital provides the necessary patient care,” said McQuade.

Schaefer and other Republicans, including Senator Bob Onder (R-Lake Saint Louis) say “refer and follow” is “bogus.” Onder, a physician, said he had never heard of “refer and follow” privileges.

McQuade told Missourinet in July the ability to perform abortions in Columbia is, “incredibly important for the women of Missouri,” because there is only one other provider in Missouri, and that’s in St. Louis.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) joined Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) in receiving a donation of a Saint John’s Illuminated Bible given to the Library of Congress by Pope Francis this morning during his first visit to the United States. The Pope presented the Bible immediately after his remarks to a joint session of Congress, which was the first ever papal speech before Congress.

“Meeting Pope Francis this morning was a humbling and memorable experience,” said Blunt. “It was an honor to receive the donation of a very special St. John’s Illuminated Bible given to the Library of Congress by the Pope during his visit this week. The time and resources put into this completely handwritten and hand-illustrated Bible is remarkable, and I’m glad it will reside in the Library of Congress as a reminder of the Pope’s historic visit to our great nation and the inspiring and hopeful message he had for us in Congress and across America.”

Senator Blunt is the chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress.

The Apostles Edition of the Saint John’s Bible, one of only twelve in existence, is more than 1,130 pages, contains 160 illuminations, and measures 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide when open. It is the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned in more than 500 years. The Library will place the Bible on public exhibition starting on Saturday, Sept. 26.

(Missourinet) – The first ever papal address of Congress was delivered this morning. Pope Francis touched on issues that are important to both Democrats and Republicans in the roughly 1-hour speech.

Senator Roy Blunt (R) had hoped the pope would speak about religious freedom and tolerance, and he did.

“It is important that today, as in the past, the voice of faith continue to be heard for it is the voice of fraternity and love, which tries to bring out the best in each person and in each society,” said Francis.

Some lawmakers had hoped the pope would spend time talking about immigration, and a great portion of the address was on that issue.

Francis said the world is facing a refugee crisis of a scale not seen since the Second World War. He seemed to reference immigration from Mexico to the U.S., saying, “On this continent, too, thousands of persons are led to travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities. Is this not what we want for our own children?”

He called on people to remember the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and in referencing that passage from the Gospel of Matthew, segued into speaking about the Catholic Church’s position on abortion and the death penalty.

“The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of development,” said Francis.

The pope said no more that seemed a direct reference to abortion, but of the death penalty he said he is convinced its abolition, “is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes.”

Francis spent a great portion of his address speaking about climate change. He referenced his encyclical letter Laudato Si, in which he called for, “a courageous and responsible effort to ‘redirect our steps,’ and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity.”

“I am convinced that we can make a difference and I have no doubt that the United States and this Congress have an important role to play,” said the pope.

Eastern Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, who had earlier told Missourinet he wanted to see the pope keep his comments on religious guidance, did not offer objection to what the Catholic Church’s leader had to say about climate change in the address.

“Today marks an incredibly historic day as Pope Francis is the first pope to ever address Congress,” Luetkemeyer said in a statement. “As a lifelong member of the Catholic Church, I was honored to sit in the House chamber as Pope Francis spoke about the importance of family and our shared goal of putting people first so everyone has an opportunity to get ahead.”

“I have great faith that the Holy Father will continue to spread his message of peach and hope all over the world and he will lead our worldwide community forward as we confront new challenges in a continuously changing world,” Luetkemeyer continued.

Senator Blunt called the pope’s message, “hopeful, and his personal example inspiring. Congress should always remember that what we do here is more important that who we are.”

Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves said he was, “humbled to have had the opportunity to hear the Pope speak on the House floor. As a nation, we share so many of the same principles he touched on today, including the value of family, the need to protect life at every stage, and the responsibility to care for the most vulnerable among us.”

“The pope’s historic visit to Congress reinforces our shared goal of giving everyone the opportunity to pursue a better life,” added Graves.

(Missourinet) – Governor Jay Nixon (D) wants to give the state’s two- and four-year colleges and universities a tuition increase, but some Republican legislative budget makers are skeptical.

Nixon proposed on Monday a $55.7-million dollar increase for higher education in the state budget that would begin July 1, 2016. That would push performance based state higher education funding to nearly $1-billion dollars. The presidents of those colleges and universities say they would for the fourth time since Nixon became governor, not implement a year-to-year increase in tuition.

“This tuition freeze is good for students, families, and our economy as a whole,” Nixon said in a statement. “Because the less debt students take on when they’re in school, the more they can spend when they graduate – buying a car, starting a business, and pursuing their dreams.”

House Budget Committee vice-chairman Scott Fitzpatrick says such an announcement could be premature.

“It’s really early in [Fiscal Year 2016]. We’re not even through a full quarter to see where revenues are. The information that we have, as of today, doesn’t look that great,” said Fitzpatrick.

Nixon will include the proposal, which would be a 6-percent increase over the amount for higher education in the current budget, in his proposal Fiscal Year 2017 budget that he presents to the state legislature in January. The legislature will take that budget and propose changes to it.

There, Fitzpatrick said, it will go up against other budget priorities.

“Higher education has always been one of the items that has kind of been on a chopping block because in reality it’s one of the largest items in the budget that’s not an entitlement,” said Fitzpatrick.

He said two of its biggest challengers for a major increase would be Medicaid and K-12 education.

“K-12 education is an entitlement. Schools don’t have the ability to charge parents of students for their attendance at those schools. Medicaid is an entitlement. If [patients] are eligible under state law for Medicaid the services get rendered and the state has to pay for them,” said Fitzpatrick.

Also still to come, he said, is the mid-year budget that the governor and legislature use to take up various expenses that arise during the course of a fiscal year.

“Historically we’ve had pretty large supplemental requests for Medicaid and it’s a pretty basic thing to understand that any money we spend in supplemental is money that we don’t have available to spend in the next fiscal year’s budget,” said Fitzpatrick.

(Missourinet) – The Missouri Lottery is experiencing an increase in ticket sales this year compared to last year. Executive Director May Scheve said she hopes the momentum will continue.

“This year the Missouri Lottery sales are off to a good start so far. I think it has a lot to do with the price of gas and the great weather we are experiencing,” said Scheve. “Our transfers are up $4.6 million and that’s 7% higher than our benchmark goal. So we’re looking forward to a strong year.”

Scheve said the lottery is a viable part of Missouri’s economy.

“I think we’re number four as far as after agriculture and different entities like that about what we contribute to the economy of the state of Missouri,” said Scheve. “So, Missouri Lottery is important to our state’s existence.”

All the Missouri Lottery’s proceeds go to public education with more than $267 million given to schools last year. Scheve said an estimated $273.3 million is expected to go to elementary, secondary and higher education this year if sales continue to stay strong. The revenue for schools goes to fourteen different programs, including Missouri’s A+ Scholarship Program.

Scheve said the Lottery’s portfolio has contributed to higher revenue for schools.

“I think our revenue for education will go up this year because we’ve taken a really strong look at our portfolio for the games that we offer.”
She said sales have been strong for pop culture type scratcher cards, like the Walking Dead, Mardi Gras World and Escape to Margaritaville.

Scheve said more lottery scratcher tickets are sold in Missouri than computerized games like Powerball and Mega Millions.

“We do about $770 million in scratcher sales, as opposed to the rest being about 30%. So, we sell more than $1.1 billion in tickets every year,” said Scheve. “That’s more than the Cardinals, the Rams, the Royals, the Chiefs, the Blues and Imo’s Pizza sells in one year combined.”

Through quarterly studies conducted, Scheve said the Missouri Lottery office measures sales performance, sales demographics, among other things. Most ticket buyers are men between 35 and 65 years old, making $50,000 to $70,000 a year with some college education.

(Missourinet) – Next month, a statewide energy plan is expected to be given to Governor Jay Nixon. The Department of Economic Development’s Division of Energy is in charge of developing the plan and the House’s Energy and Environment Committee held hearings to get the public’s feedback.

Last year, Governor Nixon called for development of a comprehensive plan.

Representative Rocky Miller (R-Osage Beach), who serves as chairman of the House committee, explains what citizens had to say about the matter.

“I would say that they would want the plan to be economical, not to put a heavy burden on the rate payers of the state of Missouri,” said Miller. “In addition, they would like to have reliability. In addition, they do care about the environment. They would like for it to be environmentally friendly. There’s a lot of things going on in the state of Missouri that will help us diversify and continue moving forward with hopefully reliable and low rates.”

Currently, about 80% of Missouri’s energy is produced by coal.

Miller also thinks a different approach to Missouri’s energy rates should be considered.

“Currently, we litigate on past usage and then try to figure out the rates going forward from past usage. I’d rather look at what we plan to do in the future and let’s design our rates accordingly. Then we can talk about how the utilities are spending their money,” said Miller.

He thinks the approach could lead to lower electric rates in Missouri.

Miller would also like the plan to be a living document and reviewed every three years.

(Missourinet) – Credit and debit cards are changing soon to include a data chip instead of a magnetic strip. Patrick Dix with Shazam, a non-profit electronic funds transfer provider, says the switch will dramatically reduce point of sale fraud.

“You’re holding a little computer in your hand when you have one of those cards in your hand. Every time you stick it into the machine, in order to purchase something, that is going to be a unique transaction. You can not counterfeit that card,” said Dix. “We believe that it’s a great tool to help stop fraud, but it’s only one tool. The other thing that we know, because we watched it happen in Europe, is that much of the fraud is going to migrate online.”

Starting October 1, if the retailer doesn’t have the appropriate terminal for the new card, then the liability shifts to the retailer. Dix said retailers should assess the business’s fraud risk first.

“We believe that merchants need to make sure that it makes sense for them to switch over right now because it is going to be an investment for them in security,” said Dix.

He said the cost of such a terminal varies from about $250-$500 each.

The U.S. is the last major market that has not implemented the security standard, but Dix says the U.S. has many more banks and retailers.