Planned Parenthood stopped providing abortions in Missouri on Tuesday following a state Supreme Court order vacating lower court rulings that had temporarily restored abortion access. The 20-month legal battle follows a successful 2023 ballot measure overturning Missouri’s total abortion ban, which took effect after the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The high court said Judge Jerri Zhang used the wrong legal standard in earlier decisions to allow abortions to resume. It instructed her to reconsider whether lifting abortion restrictions causes irreparable harm. The state argued that abortion providers failed to prove such harm and that Judge Zhang’s rulings left clinics “functionally unregulated.”
Attorney General Andrew Bailey called the ruling “a win for women and children.” Advocates counter that the blocked regulations—such as hospital admitting privileges and cleanliness standards—were intentionally designed to limit abortion access.
Emily Wales, head of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, said the group was forced to cancel patient appointments once again. Missouri remains the only state where voters have directly overturned a total abortion ban. However, Republicans have introduced a 2026 ballot measure to reinstate restrictions, with exceptions for rape or incest.
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CBS News – MBFC Rating
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