Planned Parenthood has resumed medication abortions in Missouri
Planned Parenthood has resumed appointments for medication abortions following a judge’s decision on June 18 that overturned numerous abortion laws in Missouri.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang issued the permanent ruling following a trial in Jackson County that challenged the constitutionality of the abortion laws. Missouri’s Planned Parenthood affiliates and the ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit seeking to repeal regulations they said violate a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2024.
Among the laws that Zhang struck down are a rule that providers submit complication plans to the state, a provision that allows medication abortions to resume.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said she plans to appeal the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court.
“This radical decision gives abortion providers a free pass to police themselves,” Hanaway said in a June 18 statement. “Women are no longer entitled to the same level of care in an abortion clinic that they would receive in other healthcare settings: providers are no longer required to maintain complication plans or insurance, and the state cannot even conduct basic health and safety inspections to ensure patient safety.”
Meanwhile, Missourians will head to the polls in November to vote on a new proposed amendment to ban most abortions.
The newly proposed Amendment 3 would limit most abortions except for cases of rape and incest (up to 12 weeks of gestation), emergencies and fetal anomalies. It would also repeal the 2024 voter-approved amendment, which allows for abortions through fetal viability but also offers a broad exception for the “life and physical or mental health of the pregnant person.”
If approved by voters, Amendment 3 would reinstate health and safety inspections at abortion facilities, require parental consent for minors receiving medical procedures, require physicians performing abortions to have nearby hospital admitting privileges, ensure access to care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages and provide medical malpractice protections.
The new ballot question also would amend the constitution to ban gender transition surgeries and prescribing medications for gender transition, including puberty blockers, for children younger than 18.
Missouri’s bishops are calling on the faithful to pray, fast and vote in support of Amendment 3 this November, saying the measure offers an opportunity to reinstate protections for unborn children and safeguards for women’s health.
“This year, Missourians will have the opportunity to restore those safeguards by voting for Amendment 3,” the bishops said in a statement March 25. “The proposed constitutional amendment will protect women’s health and safety and restore protections for the unborn. We ask the faithful and all people of good will to join us in prayer and fasting for the success of Amendment 3 and to support each human person from conception to natural death.”
Amendment 3: Resources and Additional Information
To learn more about Amendment 3, visit the Missouri Catholic Conference: mocatholic.org/amendment-3
The MCC has speakers available to present to groups on Amendment 3. To request a speaker, visit mocatholic.org/ speaker-request/. For speaker suggestions from the archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate or to request copies of the Amendment 3 prayer card, email prolife@archstl.org or call (314) 792-7555.
Read coverage of Amendment 3 by the St. Louis Review
