Temporary Injunction Granted in Missouri Case

This week a federal judge granted a request from Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri to temporarily block enforcement of a new Missouri law, which would impose additional regulations on abortion clinics.

While Missouri already requires abortion clinics to be licensed, the new legislation would require any facility that performs more than five first-trimester abortions a month, or any second- or third-trimester abortions, to meet the licensure requirements for an “ambulatory surgical center.” The new law would force clinics to make expensive and “medically unnecessary” renovations.

These changes are particularly unnecessary for the clinic in Kansas City, which only provides medical abortion care. U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith said it was “confusing how the state would apply the law to the Kansas City clinic,” and said, “of all the establishments that dispense medication (e.g. doctor’s offices, pharmacies), why is it only those that dispense medication for the purpose of inducing an abortion that must be prepared to perform surgery?”

A hearing is set for September 10 to determine whether this injunction will be permanent.