COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Following a recent ruling, controversial medical procedures, including abortions, are set to resume in Missouri. The decision comes after a judge blocked regulations that had limited providers’ ability to offer these procedures, despite voters having approved the inclusion of abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
The ruling, issued on Friday, follows a previous decision by a Kansas City judge last year, which declared abortions to be legal in the state but upheld certain regulations while a lawsuit by abortion-rights advocates was ongoing. These regulations required abortion facilities to be licensed by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Planned Parenthood challenged the licensing law, citing “medically unnecessary and invasive” pelvic exams for abortion recipients, as well as “medically irrelevant” size requirements for facilities.
Judge Jerri Zhang, in her ruling, stated that the licensing requirement was discriminatory and did not treat abortion facilities the same as other healthcare providers offering similar services, such as miscarriage care.
The constitutional amendment passed by voters in November did not legalize abortion outright but prompted a review of laws that had severely limited the procedure. Planned Parenthood and other advocates filed a lawsuit to challenge Missouri’s near-total abortion ban, which the Republican Attorney General is contesting.
Margot Riphagen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, welcomed the ruling and expressed the organization’s commitment to resume providing abortion services promptly. The decision is seen as a victory for reproductive rights advocates, who have been working to ensure greater access to abortion care in the state.
Missouri residents and individuals in the Midwest region are anticipated to benefit from the increased access to abortion services. Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, stated that clinic partners are prepared to offer abortion services as early as next week.
Missouri’s constitutional amendment permits lawmakers to regulate abortion after viability, with exceptions to safeguard the pregnant person’s life or health. The term “viability” refers to the likelihood of a pregnancy continuing normally or a fetus being able to survive outside the uterus, as assessed by healthcare providers.
Following the 21st week of pregnancy, I found myself in Missouri, a state that swiftly enacted a ban on the majority of abortions. This action came in response to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2022 that overturned the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which had established a universal right to abortion across the nation. This information was relayed by Golden, who was reporting from Seattle.
