Planned Parenthood fire investigated

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Authorities said Monday that they are investigating a suspicious fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Missouri that is seeking to regain its ability to offer abortions.

Columbia police said officers responded to an alarm at the clinic on Sunday around 4 a.m. A small fire had started inside the structure, and the building’s sprinkler system extinguished it. Firefighters told police the blaze was “suspicious in nature,” according to a statement from the Police Department.

On Monday, police spokesman Jeff Pitts said that the department has asked the FBI to help with the investigation. No clinic staff or patients were present when the fire started, and there were no injuries, Planned Parenthood spokesman Emily Miller said.

Planned Parenthood was required to stop providing abortions at the clinic last year after new regulations went into effect requiring abortion doctors to have certain privileges with a nearby hospital.

Missouri is down to one clinic offering abortions. That clinic is in St. Louis.