Temporary Injunction Issued in Missouri
A federal judge issued a temporary injunction Monday to stop the enforcement of a Missouri law, which would impose new regulations on abortion providers. The new law 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.”
Planned Parenthood will have 30 days to tell the health department what regulations it wants waived. The health department must then respond within 30 days. If the two groups cannot reach agreement, they must return to court.
U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith said that if the state health department insisted upon the most stringent interpretation possible, the renovations required of some abortion clinics could prove so costly they could infringe on the right to an abortion.