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Nixon says MO abortion waiting law back in effect, others disagree

Nixon
(file)
Nixon

By AP/KWMU

Jefferson City, Mo. – Attorney General Jay Nixon says Missouri's 24-hour waiting period for abortions is back in effect.

Nixon says that's the result of a ruling Wednesday by a federal appeals court in St. Louis.

The court said a preliminary injunction issued last year was too broad and must be modified.

But a lawyer for Planned Parenthood disagrees with Nixon's interpretation of the decision. Arthur Benson says nothing suggests the appeals court meant for the waiting period to go briefly into effect until a new injunction is issued.

Missouri legislators voted in 2003 to require a 24-hour interval between the time a woman talks to a doctor about an abortion and the time the procedure is performed.

Planned Parenthood went to court challenging the law as unconstitutionally vague.

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