Abortions canceled again in Missouri after ruling from state Supreme
Court
[May 28, 2025]
By DAVID A. LIEB, HANNAH FINGERHUT and GEOFF MULVIHILL
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Planned Parenthood halted abortions in
Missouri on Tuesday after the state’s top court ordered new rulings in
the tumultuous legal saga over a ban that voters struck down last
November.
The state’s top court ruled that a district judge applied the wrong
standard in rulings in December and February that allowed abortions to
resume in the state. Nearly all abortions were halted under a ban that
took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
In Tuesday’s two-page ruling, the court ordered Judge Jerri Zhang to
vacate her earlier orders and reevaluate the case using the standards
the court laid out. Zhang ruled that she was allowing abortions to
resume largely because advocates were likely to prevail in the case
eventually. The Supreme Court said it should first consider whether
there would be harms from allowing abortions to resume.
The state emphasized in their petition filed to the state Supreme Court
in March that Planned Parenthood didn’t sufficiently prove women were
harmed without the temporary blocks on the broad swath of laws and
regulations on abortion services and providers. On the contrary, the
state said Zhang’s decisions left abortion facilities “functionally
unregulated” and women with “no guarantee of health and safety.”
Among the regulations that had been placed on hold were ones setting
cleanliness standards for abortion facilities and requiring physicians
who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at certain types of
hospitals located within 30 miles (48 kilometers) or 15 minutes of where
an abortion is provided.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a statement that
“today’s decision from the Missouri Supreme Court is a win for women and
children and sends a clear message — abortion providers must comply with
state law regarding basic safety and sanitation requirements.”
Planned Parenthood maintains that those restrictions were specifically
targeted to make it harder to access abortion.
Still, the organization — which has the state's only abortion clinics —
immediately started calling patients to cancel abortion appointments at
Missouri clinics in Columbia and Kansas City, according to Emily Wales,
president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains.
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People gather outside the Missouri Supreme Court building on March
12, 2025, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)
Wales said it’s a familiar but disappointing position for the
organization.
“We have had to call patients in Missouri previously and say you were
scheduled for care, your appointment is now canceled because of
political interference, new restrictions, licensure overreach by the
state,” she said. “To be in that position again, after the people of
Missouri voted to ensure abortion access, is frustrating.”
Wales said Planned Parenthood hopes to be back in court soon.
Sam Lee, director of Campaign Life Missouri, said he was “extremely
excited” by the Supreme Court order.
“This means that our pro-life laws, which include many health and safety
protections for women, will remain in place,” Lee said. “How long they
will remain we will have to see."
Missouri is the only state where voters have used a ballot measure to
overturn a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. The
Republican-controlled state government pushed back in court against
allowing abortions to resume — something that didn't happen until more
than three months after the amendment was adopted.
Since then, lawmakers have approved another ballot measure for an
amendment that would reimpose a ban — but with exceptions for
pregnancies caused by rape or incest. It could be on the ballot in 2026
or sooner.
Before Tuesday's ruling, 12 states were enforcing bans on abortion at
all stages of pregnancy and four more had bans that kicked in at around
six weeks — before women often know they're pregnant.
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