The last Missouri abortion clinic will remain open, thanks to a decision from a St. Louis judge Friday keeping in place an injunction preventing the state from closing it.
Missouri would have become the only state without an abortion provider since the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling if the clinic, owned by Planned Parenthood, had been closed.
“The preliminary injunction continues! This means that abortion access is still protected in Missouri, for now — a welcome relief for our patients and for providers in the state,” Planned Parenthood wrote in a Tweet Friday.
State Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer upheld the injunction, which he had issued earlier in June to let the clinic continue providing abortions after the medical license from the state expired May 31, giving the state time to consider a license application.
The state said earlier in the day that it wouldn’t authorize the license, saying that the clinic botched at least three abortions that resulted in the patients needing to get follow-up surgery. Planned Parenthood has had a judge seal the records and accused the state of violating privacy laws in sharing the information.
The state has asked to interview seven doctors at the clinic, and only two have complied. Earlier this week, Planned Parenthood said it would no longer abide by a state requirement that women have pelvic exams before an abortion.
In a statement responding to the state’s action earlier Friday, Planned Parenthood accused state officials of “weaponizing a regulatory process” in order to end abortions in Missouri.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons, a Republican, recently signed into law a ban on abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy that would take effect in August. It’s expected to be blocked because it violates the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide until fetal viability, which is generally understood to be at roughly 24 weeks into a pregnancy.
