Abortions to resume in Missouri after a judge temporarily blocks restrictions
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Abortions are set to resume in Missouri after a judge temporarily blocked regulations on Friday that providers said had kept them from offering the procedure.
The ruling came after a Kansas City judge ruled last year that abortions were now legal in Missouri but kept certain regulations on the books while a lawsuit by abortion-rights advocates played out.
Voters approved a measure adding abortion rights to the constitution in November. That amendment did not legalize abortion in the state outright but instead required judges to reconsider laws that had almost completely banned the procedure.
Margot Riphagen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, said the group is working quickly to start providing the procedure again in the coming days.
“Today’s decision affirms what we’ve already long known — the state’s abortion facility licensing requirements were not about patient safety, but rather another politically motivated barrier to prevent patients seeking abortion from getting the care they need,” she said in a statement.
The state attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Missouri is one of five states where voters approved ballot measures in 2024 to enshrining abortion rights in their constitutions. Nevada voters also approved an amendment but will need to pass it again in 2026 for it to take effect.
Another measure banning discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes” prevailed in New York.