Family Planning Decision in Missouri: St. Louis Abortion Clinic – Last in Missouri – May Remain Open After Judge Intervention – Live Updates

A circuit judge in St. Louis granted Planned Parenthood a restraining order on Friday afternoon, allowing the abortion clinic to continue operating even after the Missouri health authorities had refused to renew the clinic's license.

If the license had been canceled, the clinic would have been forced to stop providing the procedure, thus ending the legal abortion in the state. Missouri would have become the first state not to have a legal abortion clinic since Roe v. Wade in 1973.

On Friday afternoon, Michael Stelzer, Circuit Judge of St. Louis, wrote that "a temporary restraining order is necessary to preserve the status quo and avoid irreparable damage" to Planned Parenthood, who had "shown that immediate and irreparable damage would be caused "if the permit expired.

Dr. Leana Wen, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, tweeted about the decision: "It's a win for the women of Missouri, but this fight is far from over. We've seen how much access to abortion care is vulnerable in Missouri – and in the rest of the country – is trying to stop access to health care – whatever happens. "

Planned Parenthood will be back in court on June 4 to ask the court for a preliminary injunction.

Friday's decision comes after several weeks of exchanges between the Missouri Department of Health clinic. The agency had refused to renew the attorney's license practiced by Planned Parenthood, unless she could conduct an investigation at the clinic, including interviews with seven doctors who worked at the clinic.

Planned Parenthood stated that he could only offer interviews with two of his employees. The other five physicians working in the institution are residents in training and are not employed by Planned Parenthood. The state said the outcome of these talks could be "a review of the committee" in addition to a "criminal proceeding," said a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood. Resident doctors refused to be interviewed for the state's investigation.

In a letter to Planned Parenthood reviewed by CBS News, the Department of Health wrote that it could not "finish our investigation until we interviewed the doctors involved in the care provided in the potentially deficient practices", and that "the investigation should be completed and any gap resolved before the expiry of the [the clinic’s] licensed on May 31, 2019. "

Dr. Colleen McNicholas, a Planned Parenthood doctor in St. Louis who agreed to be interviewed by the state, said the agency did not provide details about the investigation or potential concerns.

"We are 100% committed to providing the best care we can provide to patients, so certainly, if there is a problem with the care we provide, we want to know it," she said. . "We want to be able to solve this problem, but we can not do it when we are attacked."

This is a story in development. Please check again for updates.