Latest news with #JerriZhang
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Voters Ended This State's Abortion Ban. Then Conservative Judges Got Involved.
Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Missouri voters in November chose to pass a ballot measure establishing reproductive rights in a state with one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation. Last week, because of a decision by the Missouri Supreme Court, abortion is again unavailable in the state. What happened won't necessarily last, but it's reminder that ballot measures won't always be enough to protect reproductive rights. Within days of the passage of Amendment 3, Planned Parenthood and other plaintiffs challenged the vast array of bans and restrictions in the state. Missouri not only banned virtually all abortions from the moment of fertilization but also enforced a variety of what are called TRAP (targeted regulation of abortion provider) laws. Clinics must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 15 miles and comply with state licensure rules and the rules governing ambulatory surgical centers. Other rules make patients wait 72 hours before getting an abortion or prohibit the decision to have an abortion for certain reasons. These laws made a big difference in dismantling abortion access even before the overturning of Roe. At one point, Missouri had more than 25 clinics. Before the state's absolute ban went into effect, only one remained open. In rulings handed down in December and February, a judge in Jackson County, Missouri, Jerri Zhang, blocked most of the TRAP laws ahead of a trial scheduled for early 2026. Abortions soon resumed in the state, even if access remained limited. Only three clinics opened, and these facilities performed only a handful of surgical procedures before the state Supreme Court's order was issued. The attorney general, Andrew Bailey, one of the most committed abortion opponents in the nation, appealed directly to the state Supreme Court, seeking a special order called a writ of mandamus. He agreed that the state's absolute ban couldn't survive under Amendment 3, but argued that other restrictions—the TRAP laws—were different because they protected women from dangerous procedures. He also argued that women wouldn't be harmed if every clinic in Missouri shut down because they could get abortion pills online or travel out of state. The state Supreme Court allowed the restrictions to go back into effect, all because of a technicality—the trial judge had applied an older standard for granting a preliminary injunction that asks whether the plaintiffs have a fair chance of succeeding. Missouri courts, since 2008, have followed a more demanding standard set forth by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals focused on whether a plaintiff is likely to succeed at trial. Because the trial court cited the wrong case, abortion in Missouri came to a stop. The three open clinics canceled appointments and counseled patients on how to go out of state. This is hardly a fatal blow for the plaintiffs. The judge may well already believe that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed, and the plaintiffs might have a relatively easy time making that case. Amendment 3 provides broad protections for reproductive rights, requiring not only that a state law serves a compelling interest but also that the government uses the least restrictive means of achieving its goal. And the state can't discriminate against abortion by treating it differently from other medical procedures. The judge might conclude that there are less restrictive and more effective ways of protecting maternal health, or that TRAP laws don't do much to improve patient health at all, as the U.S. Supreme Court did before Roe was overturned in a case about similar Texas regulations. But what is happening in Missouri is still a sign about the limits of ballot measures. Missouri Republicans already have crafted a new ballot measure that voters will face, most likely in 2026. The proposal asks Missourians whether they want to 'ensure women's safety during abortions,' 'ensure parental consent for minors,' and 'allow abortions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, rape, and incest.' It would ban all abortions from fertilization in every other case—a fact that it doesn't advertise. For good measure, it also asks whether voters want 'to protect children from gender transition,' even though gender-affirming care for minors is already illegal in the state. That voters adopted Amendment 3 less than a year ago is doing nothing to dissuade the state GOP. The ballot effort may fail. Republicans in other states have a poor track record when they ask voters to make it harder to pass ballot measures. If politicians ignore a result that voters just reached, that might not be popular either. But abortion opponents in the state will have a way forward even if Republicans' latest gambit fails. The attorney general can argue that any abortion restriction should survive, even under Amendment 3, just as he has with the TRAP laws. He could repeat that abortion hurts women, or that the state has a compelling interest in protecting fetal life. The attorney general may even seek to establish that an embryo or fetus has constitutional rights. Five of the court's seven supreme court justices were nominated by Republicans, including four selected by the current governor, Matt Blunt, who has made his opposition to abortion central to his political career. The court barely allowed Amendment 3 on the ballot, choosing to do so by a margin of 4 to 3. Voters just ensured that two of the three dissenters will serve another 12-year term. State judges, not voters, are ultimately the ones who will decide what Amendment 3 means. They won't have much fear, when they face retention elections, that an unpopular vote will matter. State judicial incumbents have a high rate of success; the two judges Missourians just retained won well more than 60 percent of the vote. As long as Missouri elects Republican governors and retains judges regardless of their rulings, the Missouri Supreme Court will become more conservative, and Republicans will experiment with new restrictions and bans to see what the state Supreme Court will tolerate. All of this makes Amendment 3 a cautionary tale, even if the effects of the state Supreme Court's latest rulings will only be temporary. For supporters of reproductive rights, ballot measures like Amendment 3 are critical, but what happens after the vote is just as important.
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Missouri Supreme Court allows abortion ban to continue
London: The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a pair of lower court rulings that had blocked the state's strict abortion ban , once again putting the ban in place at least for now. The state's high court ordered a circuit court judge to vacate her injunctions against the abortion ban, saying the judge had applied the wrong standards. The Supreme Court said one of its prior rulings had established "a more rigorous standard" when blocking a state law. But the Supreme Court also ordered Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang to re-evaluate her rulings "in light of this standard," raising the possibility that Zhang could reissue the injunctions on a different legal basis. The underlying lawsuit challenging the law has yet to go to trial. For now Missouri's abortion ban, which kicked in when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, will once again take effect. Missouri voters in November passed a ballot measure to ensure abortion rights by amending the state constitution that guarantees a "right to reproductive freedom" up until fetal viability, generally considered to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy. That prompted the state's Planned Parenthood organizations to file a lawsuit seeking strike down the state abortion ban, which led to Zhang's rulings. In December Zhang ruled the abortion ban violated the constitution but left in place some licensing requirements that prevented many abortions from resuming. Then in February she ruled the licensing requirements were discriminatory, enabling Planned Parenthood to resume abortions. The state attorney general challenged those rulings, leading to Tuesday's Supreme Court decision. Republican lawmakers have also approved a new ballot measure, either in November 2026 or possibly sooner if a special election is held, that would seek to repeal the amendment guaranteeing abortion rights, which voters approved by 3 percentage points last November.
Reuters
28-05-2025
- General
- Reuters
Missouri Supreme Court allows abortion ban to continue
May 27 (Reuters) - The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a pair of lower court rulings that had blocked the state's strict abortion ban, once again putting the ban in place at least for now. The state's high court ordered a circuit court judge to vacate her injunctions against the abortion ban, saying the judge had applied the wrong standards. The Supreme Court said one of its prior rulings had established "a more rigorous standard" when blocking a state law. But the Supreme Court also ordered Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang to re-evaluate her rulings "in light of this standard," raising the possibility that Zhang could reissue the injunctions on a different legal basis. The underlying lawsuit challenging the law has yet to go to trial. For now Missouri's abortion ban, which kicked in when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, will once again take effect. Missouri voters in November passed a ballot measure to ensure abortion rights by amending the state constitution that guarantees a "right to reproductive freedom" up until fetal viability, generally considered to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy. That prompted the state's Planned Parenthood organizations to file a lawsuit seeking strike down the state abortion ban, which led to Zhang's rulings. In December Zhang ruled the abortion ban violated the constitution but left in place some licensing requirements that prevented many abortions from resuming. Then in February she ruled the licensing requirements were discriminatory, enabling Planned Parenthood to resume abortions. The state attorney general challenged those rulings, leading to Tuesday's Supreme Court decision. Republican lawmakers have also approved a new ballot measure, either in November 2026 or possibly sooner if a special election is held, that would seek to repeal the amendment guaranteeing abortion rights, which voters approved by 3 percentage points last November.
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Inside KC clinic for first abortion since end of Missouri ban. ‘Incredibly meaningful'
On Saturday morning, a Missouri woman in her first trimester entered Exam Room 6 inside Planned Parenthood's Kansas City clinic. When she left, she was no longer pregnant. After millions of votes and hours of courtroom arguments, this is how legal abortion resumed in Missouri. Sometime after 10 a.m., Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains performed the first elective abortion in the state since voters overturned the state's ban in November. The moment also marked the first abortion at its Kansas City clinic since 2018. Except for a few extra cars in the parking lot at the Patty Brous Health Center along Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, no one passing by would have any inkling of the historic moment unfolding inside. No protesters stood outside in the cold, gray morning. The abortion capped a whirlwind 18 hours for Planned Parenthood's staff. After Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang issued an order at roughly 4 p.m. Friday blocking regulations that require abortion clinics to hold state-issued licenses, the organization's medical and administrative staff rushed into action. Employees reached out to future patients to see who would be interested in receiving care closer to home. They found one and also located a doctor available on Saturday – Selina Sandoval, associate medical director at Planned Parenthood Great Plains. 'I think today is incredibly meaningful,' Sandoval, dressed in scrubs, said shortly after performing the abortion. 'We know that the voices of Missouri constituents have finally been heard. We were able to finally put into action what the voters asked for back in November.' In a 51.6% to 48.4% vote on Nov. 5, Missouri residents struck down the state's abortion ban by approving Amendment 3, which enshrined a right to reproductive freedom in the state's constitution. The ban had been in place since June 24, 2022, the day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion. But abortion access wasn't immediately restored. Abortion providers needed to sort out what state-level restrictions remained constitutional and which ones could no longer be enforced. Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in Jackson County Circuit Court. Zhang in December overturned a number of restrictions, including a law that required patients to wait 72 hours. But she kept in place the state's abortion licensing rules, which would have required providers to conduct pelvic exams on patients. The organization's lawyers asked Zhang to reconsider, leading to Friday's three-page decision. Emily Wales, Planned Parenthood Great Plains president and CEO, was at her child's Valentine's Day party when she got a text message about the decision. As Wales read the ruling on her phone, the scale of Planned Parenthood's victory was quickly apparent – Zhang had blocked everything its lawyers requested. 'Within minutes, we were calling each other and speaking to our senior clinical leaders about what this would mean, how quickly we could relaunch care,' Wales said. Staff members examined wait lists, with much of the consideration given to how many patients who needed time-sensitive care could be seen if they could begin offering abortion services quickly. Sandoval and other staff members, including many not scheduled to work, agreed to come in. 'They really wanted to make sure care happened,' Wales said. The Star was the only news organization inside the clinic as Planned Parenthood began once again offering abortion services. A reporter and photographer interviewed staff and saw the exam room where the abortion was performed prior to the procedure. The journalists weren't provided access to the patient and Planned Parenthood didn't identify her beyond saying she was a Missouri resident in her first trimester of pregnancy. Sandoval provided a procedural abortion, technically known as a dilation and curettage, which removes tissue from the uterus. The procedure is also commonly used in miscarriage care – a fact that became a great point of focus during court arguments. Amendment 3 prohibits discrimination against providers of reproductive health care. Zhang noted in her decision that miscarriage care and abortion procedures often mirror each other, but that miscarriage care can be offered without a special facility license. Planned Parenthood Great Plains plans to quickly ramp up the availability of abortion services, both in Kansas City and elsewhere. While the first abortion was procedural, the organization will also offer medication abortions, a common method of ending a pregnancy. Wales indicated the patient on Saturday morning was the first statewide to receive an abortion from Planned Parenthood since Zhang's decision – and, indeed, since the U.S. Supreme Court decision 968 days ago. It was also the first procedural abortion offered by Planned Parenthood in Kansas City in at least 15 years. Even before the U.S. Supreme Court case, access to procedural abortion in Missouri had been whittled down to a single clinic in St. Louis. In the minutes before the procedure, Sandoval led The Star into Exam Room 6. A patient bed rested against a gray wall and a supply cart had been rolled into a corner. An ultrasound machine sat off to the side of the bed. 'This is a first trimester procedure, so I don't typically need the ultrasound, but it's here in case I need it,' Sandoval said. 'It takes forever to turn on, so that's what I'm doing now.' If the room appeared at first glance like it could be any doctor's office, Planned Parenthood staff say that's the point. Abortion care is routine care, they say. After the procedure, Sandoval said everything had gone 'perfectly.' 'The rules and regulations and limitations placed on abortion care are discriminatory,' Sandoval said. 'They're meant to cause shame and prevent care.' Of course, many view abortion as the taking of a life – anything but routine. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a staunchly anti-abortion Republican, is defending the state's restrictions in court. His office is certain to appeal Zhang's decision. Everyone agrees the Missouri Supreme Court will ultimately decide what rules are – and aren't – constitutional. As of Saturday afternoon, Bailey hadn't commented on the decision. Missouri Stands with Women, a group that opposes abortion and campaigned against Amendment 3, lamented Zhang's decision, saying that while Valentine's Day is supposed to reflect happiness and love, the ruling was 'sad and heartbreaking.' 'We will not stop fighting to protect both women and unborn children from reckless, profit-driven practices. No woman should suffer, and no innocent life should be taken, in the name of an industry that refuses to be held accountable,' Stephanie Bell, a spokeswoman for Missouri Stands with Women, said in a statement. Even as Planned Parenthood moved swiftly to resume abortions, the ongoing legal battle will continue to cast some degree of uncertainty over future access. 'We are pretty skilled, unfortunately, with having those conversations, at saying 'we have availability, we can serve you really close to where you live but there's a chance for interruption, so let's have a back-up plan just in case,'' Wales said. It's possible a higher court will allow Missouri to reimpose some rules or regulations that would lead the organization to suspend offering abortion services. Planned Parenthood's lawyers have strenuously objected to any mandatory pelvic exam requirement, for instance. Whatever happens in the future, employees on Saturday were well aware of the significance of the moment. As employees prepared for the day they held a morning huddle, Wales said, asking how everyone was feeling and making sure everyone was prepared. It's the clinic's normal process. 'But today there was a particular, I think, light in the room because people all recognize it's a historic moment,' Wales said. 'Even for our team members who have loved ones who have needed abortion services, who themselves have needed abortion services – having to travel out of state has been a reality for a long time. So it meant a lot to a team of health care professionals to say we're going to see these patients here at home.'
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Missouri court ruling paves the way for abortion access return
Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Women in Missouri are expected to again have access to abortion services within days, after a circuit court judge ruled business licenses imposed by the state on Planned Parenthood clinics were too onerous. "The Court finds the facility licensing requirement is facially discriminatory because it does not treat services provided in abortion facilities the same as other types of similarly situated health care, including miscarriage care," Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang wrote in her three-page ruling. Zhang found the business licenses imposed on clinics to freely operate violated parts of Missouri's state constitution and did not treat the facilities in the same manner as other medical institutions. This past November, people in Missouri voted to amend the state constitution and protect abortion rights. Amendment 3 overturned a ban on ending a pregnancy that went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion in 2022. Arizona also overturned an abortion ban in November, and previously voters rejected bans in Ohio and Kansas. Proposed protective measures in Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota did not pass in November. Near total abortion bans are in 11 states. Despite the vote, clinics did not immediately begin offering abortion services as the state laws - including the business licenses - created hurdles. "Today's decision is a triumph for all Missourians: for the voters who demanded their rights, for the medical providers we trust to provide care, and most importantly, for patients who will now be able to receive high-quality care without fear," President and CEO of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Emily Wales said in a statement to the Kansas City Star. "Abortion care will be restored immediately. The people voted, the court responded, and we will do our part: serving Missourians in their home state." It remains to be seen how higher courts will treat Zhang's ruling and the issue could very well end up in the Supreme Court of Missouri.
