Missouri can restart abortion services after judge freezes state restrictions again

Abortion services will resume in Missouri on Monday following a Jackson County court order blocking enforcement of almost all of the state's laws restricting the procedure.

On Thursday afternoon, Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang, for the third time, issued an order to enforce the abortion rights amendment approved by voters in November. In her previous orders, one in December and one in February, Zhang pointed to the voter-approved constitutional amendment in issuing a temporary injunction blocking abortion restrictions enacted over numerous years by state lawmakers.

State lawmakers have passed a ballot measure asking voters to repeal the abortion rights amendment in 2026, a move being challenged in Cole County Circuit Court.

Surgical abortions resumed after the February decision but ended in May when the Missouri Supreme Court struck down Zhang's orders on technical legal grounds.

In a joint statement, the ACLU of Missouri and Planned Parenthood affiliates said the Kansas City clinic will resume abortion services on Monday. The statement said the ruling was incomplete because it did not enjoin enforcement of a state law requiring complication plans for abortion patients.

"Abortion is legal again in Missouri because voters demanded it and we fought for it," said Emily Wales, president and CEO, Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.

Zhang found that the total ban on abortions that took effect in 2022 clearly conflicted with the rights secured by the abortion amendment, which received 52% of the vote in November.

She also blocked enforcement of a law requiring two appointments 72 hours apart to obtain abortion services and that women be required to take state-produced material on fetal development.

The order blocks enforcement of laws requiring special abortion facility licensing and that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

"The regulations require physicians to perform certain exams and tests that are unnecessary when the physicians themselves are authorized and enabled to make the determination on what is and is not necessary for their individual patients," Zhang wrote. "Additionally, miscarriage management can be provided on an outpatient basis without a special facility license."

Zhang's order keeps in place rules that only doctors can provide abortion services and that the woman seeking an abortion have an in-person appointment. The appointment can, however, be by telemedicine, Zhang ruled as she blocked a separate rule.

Overall, Zhang's ruling means the rights secured by the abortion amendment can be exercised.

"As plaintiffs argue, they and their patients are suffering serious harm, whereas defendants only stand to lose the ability temporarily to enforce some laws that are likely to be held unconstitutional and which further no valid compelling state interest," Zhang wrote.

In a statement, Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office said in a statement that he would immediately appeal the decision.

"We respectfully but firmly disagree with the Court's decision to once again block the enforcement of Missouri's duly enacted health and safety regulations," the statement read. "These requirements were designed to ensure that women receive care in sanitary conditions from qualified professionals, with emergency safeguards in place."

While services will resume in Kansas City on Monday, other clinics will open up appointment books quickly.

"This decision is a step forward toward fully realizing Missourians' right to reproductive freedom," Margot Riphagen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, said in the release, "and the staff at our Central West End health center in St. Louis will work as quickly as possible to resume scheduling abortion appointments."