Authorities looking into ‘suspicious fire’ at Missouri Planned Parenthood clinic

Police in Columbia, Mo., are investigating after firefighters responded to a “suspicious fire” at a Planned Parenthood clinic.

There were no injuries in the blaze, which occurred around 4 a.m. on Sunday and was extinguished by the sprinkler system in the building, according to The Associated Press.

The Columbia Planned Parenthood clinic has been struggling to meet newly imposed requirements that would allow it to provide abortions.

{mosads}Missouri now has just one clinic that can provide abortions after new regulations requiring doctors to have certain privileges at a nearby hospital in order to provide the procedure went into effect last year.

The Columbia clinic’s abortion license expired in October, and the clinic has not yet been able to secure the necessary physician privileges.

A spokesperson for the police department declined to comment to the AP about the suspected cause of the fire, citing the ongoing investigation.

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Emily Miller said in a statement obtained by the AP that the organization is working with law enforcement and that the clinic, which was closed Monday amid the investigation, would reopen as soon as possible.