Jefferson City, Missouri. — Planned Parenthood halted abortions in Missouri on Tuesday after the state’s highest court issued new findings in the stormy legal battle over a restriction that voters overturned last November.
The state’s highest court found that a district judge used the incorrect criterion in decisions in December and February that permitted abortions to restart in the state. Nearly all abortions were prohibited after the United States Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade in 2022.
In Tuesday’s two-page decision, the court directed Judge Jerri Zhang to cancel her previous orders and re-evaluate the case under the standards set by the court. Zhang determined that abortions could restart since campaigners were likely to win the lawsuit in the end. The Supreme Court stated that it should first evaluate the potential harms of allowing abortions to resume.
The state underlined in its March appeal to the state Supreme Court that Planned Parenthood did not sufficiently prove women were injured in the absence of interim restrictions on a wide range of abortion-related laws and regulations. On the contrary, the authorities stated that Zhang’s choices rendered abortion facilities “functionally unregulated” leaving women with “no guarantee of health and safety.”
Among the regulations put on hold were those establishing cleanliness standards for abortion facilities and requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at certain types of hospitals within 30 miles (48 kilometers) or 15 minutes of where the abortion is performed.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement that “today’s decision from the Missouri Supreme Court is a win for women and children and sends a clear message — abortion providers must comply with state law regarding basic safety and sanitation requirements.”
According to Planned Parenthood, the regulations were explicitly designed to make it more difficult to receive abortion.
Nonetheless, the group, which operates the state’s only abortion facilities, immediately began contacting patients to reschedule abortion appointments at Missouri clinics in Columbia and Kansas City, according to Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
Wales described it as a typical but frustrating position for the organization.
“We have had to call patients in Missouri previously and say you were scheduled for care, your appointment is now canceled because of political interference, new restrictions, licensure overreach by the state,” she went on. “To be in that position again, after the people of Missouri voted to ensure abortion access, is frustrating.”
Wales stated that Planned Parenthood intends to be back in court shortly.
The Supreme Court order “extremely excited” Sam Lee, director of Campaign Life Missouri.
“This means that our pro-life laws, which include many health and safety protections for women, will remain in place,” Lee said the crowd. “How long they will remain we will have to see.”
Missouri is the only state where voters utilized a ballot initiative to overturn a restriction on abortion at any stage of pregnancy. The Republican-controlled state government fought in court against allowing abortions to resume, which did not occur until more than three months after the amendment was passed.
Since then, lawmakers have authorized another ballot initiative for an amendment that would reinstate the ban, with exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. It could appear on the ballot in 2026, perhaps sooner.
Prior to Tuesday’s decision, 12 states had abortion bans in place at all stages of pregnancy, while four more had bans that went into effect at six weeks – before most women realize they’re pregnant.
