Missouri to start enforcing abortion regulations after ruling in lawsuit, say officials | Local



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The latest trial of the Missouri surgical abortion lawsuit may soon end abortion services at the Planned Parenthood location in Columbia.

According to a press release from Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri, a special panel of three judges of the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit quashed a preliminary injunction authorizing Planned Parenthood to perform abortions while the organization defends itself before the courts. courts.

Monday's decision to vacate the preliminary injunction could force Planned Parenthood to suspend abortion services in Colombia and limit access of patients seeking abortions in Missouri to a single provider in St. Louis, the statement said. It also threatens service restart efforts in Kansas City and may further delay plans to expand access to abortions in Springfield and Joplin, the statement said.

According to a separate press release sent Monday by the ministry, the Missouri Department of Health and Seniors will immediately begin implementing abortion facility regulations.

The preliminary injunction was issued in April 2017 by the Missouri West District Court, according to Missourian's previous reports. In October, the circuit court rejected the state's pending petition to suspend the trial, according to online court records. This allowed the preliminary injunction to stay in place as the circuit court examined the appeal.

The bylaws facing Planned Parenthood require abortion clinics to be outpatient surgery centers and also require that abortion doctors be given admission privileges at a local hospital.

"These demands do nothing to help Missouri women – and, in fact, actually hurt them," said Dr. Brandon Hill, president and chief executive officer of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, in a statement. "If these laws are allowed to come into force, women will now have to travel longer, wait longer and use more of their own resources to access the health care they need most – if they can get care."

Hill also stated that the US Supreme Court's decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt also applied to the Missouri settlement.

In 2016, the Supreme Court declared 5-3 that it was unconstitutional that the state of Texas imposed restrictions on the provision of abortion services, which represented an undue burden for women who seek these procedures.

"The eighth Circuit decision undermines decades of case law, including the clear case law of the Supreme Court," said Mary Kogut, president and general manager of Reproductive Health Services at Planned Parenthood in the St. Louis area. "We will continue to challenge these restrictions and fight for the right of our patients to access the full range of sexual and reproductive health care, including safe and legal abortion."

Dr. Randall Williams, Director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, said in the department's press release that the court had noted that "the good faith of state agents and the validity of their actions are presumed" .

"As a director of DHSS, an obstetrician / gynecologist registered for 30 years and accused in the case, my commitment and that of the department are to act in good faith to respect the law and protect health and safety. of all women. in Missouri, including those seeking abortions, "he said.

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