Missouri judge blocks ‘discriminatory' abortion clinic rules blamed for lack of access
The Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis on June 24, 2022 (Tessa Weinberg/Missouri Independent).
A Missouri judge on Friday struck down a licensing requirement for abortion clinics that providers argued was a key obstacle to renewing access to the procedure across the state.
In a three-page ruling issued late Friday afternoon, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang said the regulations mandate physicians to perform certain exams and testing that are 'unnecessary.'
The licensing requirement is 'discriminatory,' Zhang wrote, ' because it does not treat services provided in abortion facilities the same as other types of similarly situated health care, including miscarriage care.'
Planned Parenthood clinics had previously said they could begin taking walk-in medication abortion appointments in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis if the judge ruled in their favor.
The organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon's ruling.
The day after voters narrowly decided to overturn the state's near-total abortion ban and protect the right to an abortion in the state constitution, the ACLU of Missouri, Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers sued the state to strike down those statutes.
Zhang previously struck down a number of 'targeted regulation of abortion provider' statutes, better known as TRAP laws, such as a 72-hour waiting period for an abortion and a requirement that physicians performing the procedure have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals were put on hold.
But the licensing requirements have left clinics unable to offer abortion in Missouri.
Friday's ruling will certainly be appealed by the state. A spokeswoman for Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey did not respond to a request for comment.
A decade ago, more than 5,000 abortions were performed in Missouri, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. By 2020, when abortions were still legal, that number fell to 167, a drop that abortion providers attributed to the state's growing list of regulations.
Missouri's trigger law banning all abortions with limited exceptions for medical emergencies went into effect the same day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022..
Last November, Missourians narrowly approved Amendment 3, which states, in part, that 'the right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, interfered with, delayed, or otherwise restricted unless the government demonstrates that such action is justifiable by a compelling governmental interest achieved by the least restrictive means.'
Efforts by the Republican legislative majority to repeal or modify the terms of the Amendment 3 have led to 17 bills and proposed constitutional amendments filed in the Missouri House, and another 19 in the state Senate.
Democrats have filed three bills in the House, and one in the Senate, to repeal or modify the abortion regulation laws enjoined by Zhang's decision.
The only House measure to receive a hearing so far is a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban abortions except in cases of medical emergency, rape or incest. Filed by state Rep. Melanie Stinnett, a Republican from Springfield, it would only allow abortions for rape or incest in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and only if a report has been filed with law enforcement.
None of the Senate proposals have been scheduled for a hearing.
The Independent's Rudi Keller contributed to this story.
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