People seeking abortion services in Missouri after voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment that protects the right will have to wait at least one more day.
A decision from a Jackson County judge that could clear the way for groups like Planned Parenthood to offer the services again is still pending after both sides presented their cases Wednesday.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang is overseeing the matter, which stems from a lawsuit filed shortly after Missouri voters approved Amendment 3 in November. The measure enshrines the right to abortion in the Missouri Constitution.
In the suit, Planned Parenthood is seeking a preliminary injunction, which would block several state regulations on abortion providers that Planned Parenthood says discriminate against and limit abortion services.
Attorneys representing state Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office agreed in court Wednesday that some of the provisions will be unenforceable, but they argued Planned Parenthood’s request is unprecedented, and that other restrictions should be kept in place.
After nearly four hours of hearings, Zhang, a 2021 appointee of Republican Gov. Mike Parson, did not hand down a ruling immediately. Planned Parenthood representatives and the Attorney General’s Office said they were anticipating a ruling from the judge as early as Wednesday night, but that it would likely come sometime Thursday.
If the judge grants the injunction, Planned Parenthood leaders say they plan to provide abortions in Kansas City, Columbia, and St. Louis on Friday — one day after the amendment goes into effect.
Emily Wales, CEO and president of Parenthood Great Plains, said the lack of clarity will cause irreparable harm to people who are denied abortion services.
“Our organizations stand ready to provide that care and we’re going to fight. The judge seems to get that time is of the essence,” Wales said.
“Missourians have been heard. They were loud,” she said. “We want to restore abortion rights.”
The Amendment 3 ballot measure won approval in November with 51.7% of nearly 3 million votes cast.
Zhang did rule against a motion by the state to move the case to Cole County and have Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker removed from the case. Missouri Solicitor General Josh Divine said they plan to appeal that ruling.
Divine said he does not expect the judge to grant a preliminary injunction and suggested a protracted legal fight will follow either ruling from the judge. He repeatedly urged Zhang to keep the current framework of laws in place.
“What (Planned Parenthood) is saying is that there's just no health justification for any of this, and, every time they've said that in the past, we've won in front of a variety of different judges — both in federal courts and state courts,” Divine said after the hearing. “I'm hoping the judge will just let this go to trial as cases normally do, and we'll be able to show why the other side is not going to win.”
Divine asserted during the hearing that, in addition to the right to an abortion, Amendment 3 also contains a right to childbirth, because it lists childbirth as a reproductive health issue that the government cannot infringe upon.
He also argued that some of the restrictions give women more time to choose childbirth, including a mandatory 72-hour waiting period between the initial appointment and surgical abortion.
“There’s no actual, individual women in this lawsuit, and that’s because it’s not in their interest to eliminate these statutes,” Divine said in court.
In the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood is arguing that a series of rules called “targeted regulation of abortion providers,” or TRAP laws, create “onerous and medically unnecessary” restrictions that limit access to these services in Missouri.
Planned Parenthood attorney Eleanor Spotwood said during the hearing that the standard established by Amendment 3 is very clear: Any law that restricts abortion should be presumed invalid.
In addition to challenging the state’s trigger ban on abortions, which went into effect in June 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and the 72-hour waiting period the lawsuit targets TRAP laws that:
- Mandate pelvic exams for medication abortions.
- Require abortion clinics to be located within 30 miles of a hospital where the clinic’s doctors have admitting privileges.
- Mandate all tissue removed during an abortion be submitted to a pathologist.
- Require abortion providers report to the state all abortions and abortion complications.
- Require the same physician who initially sees a patient to also be the physician who performs the procedure.
- Require only physicians perform abortions, and exclude physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses.
