Judge to consider first lawsuit to overturn Missouri’s near-total abortion ban
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Abortion rights advocates are asking a judge Wednesday to overturn Missouri’s near-total ban on the procedure, less than a month after voters backed an abortion rights bill constitutional amendment.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang is scheduled to hear arguments from Planned Parenthood and the Republican Attorney General’s Office on whether to issue a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of Missouri’s numerous abortion laws.
“If the restrictions described above remain in place, they will continue to be catastrophic for Missourians,” attorneys for abortion rights advocates wrote in a brief. “They will prevent care entirely or seriously delay or disrupt care.”
Missouri is one of them five states where voters approved ballot measures this year to add the right to abortion to their state constitutions. Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they will have to approve it again in 2026 for it to take effect. Another banning discrimination based on “pregnancy results” made the rounds in New York.
Reproductive rights advocates in Arizona Tuesday sued to overturn a 15-week abortion ban that conflicts with that state’s new constitutional amendment expanding access to fetal viability.
The Missouri Amendment does not specifically override state laws. Instead, the measure leaves it up to advocates to ask courts to strike down bans they now believe would be unconstitutional.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, an abortion opponent, issued the ruling last week an opinion They agree that most abortions will be legal when the amendment takes effect Thursday.
But Bailey’s office is still fighting for a ban on most post-viability abortions, along with a set of rules that Planned Parenthood says have made it nearly impossible to offer abortions in the state even before abortion was almost completely banned in 2022 .
The Missouri constitutional amendment allows lawmakers to restrict abortion after viability, with exceptions to “protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
The term “viability” is used by healthcare providers to describe whether a pregnancy is expected to continue to develop normally or whether a fetus can survive outside the womb. Although there is no specific time frame, doctors say it is sometime after the illness 21st week of pregnancy.
Other abortion laws Bailey champions include a 72-hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed; banning abortions based on race, gender or a possible diagnosis of Down syndrome; and a requirement that medical facilities that perform abortions be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers.
The prosecution argued that Planned Parenthood has not proven that these laws will have negative consequences, noting that no abortions have yet been scheduled.
“Planned Parenthood admits that they did not schedule appointments immediately after the amendment went into effect and that they did not even attempt to obtain the relevant licenses or establish the necessary complication plans,” state attorneys wrote in a brief.
It is unclear when Zhang will rule on the request for a preliminary injunction.