Dozens of Missouri abortion restrictions were struck down Thursday after a circuit court judge ruled they conflict with the state constitutional amendment passed by voters in November 2024.
Judge Jerri Zhang issued the final judgment in the case, Comprehensive Health v. Missouri, which pitted Planned Parenthood against the state.
The decision dismantled much of Missouri’s hard-fought regulatory framework designed to protect women and the unborn. Zhang struck down the state’s total abortion ban, gestational-age restrictions, facility licensing rules and the 72-hour waiting period.
State attorneys warned that eliminating these statutes would leave the abortion industry dangerously unregulated. Zhang, who was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson in 2021 from a panel of three nominees, dismissed those concerns.
“Physicians and other medical professionals are self-regulated and have significant training and safeguards in place to provide medical care in all health care scenarios,” Zhang wrote.
The ruling also clears the way for Missouri abortion clinics to resume ordering, stocking and dispensing the abortion pill for the first time since 2018.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway quickly condemned the ruling, warning it opens a dangerous Pandora’s box for women’s health.
“My heart is broken by today’s ruling. This is exactly the Pandora’s box we warned of, and the women of Missouri will pay the price,” Hanaway wrote. “This radical decision gives abortion providers a free pass to police themselves. Women are no longer entitled to the same level of care in an abortion clinic that they would receive in other health care 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.”
The attorney general promised her office would file an appeal to Missouri’s highest court.
“Worse yet, this decision unilaterally expanded late-term abortion after fetal viability. None of this is what Missourians voted for. My office will expeditiously appeal this dangerous decision to the Missouri Supreme Court, and I will never stop fighting for the safety of women and children,” Hanaway said.
Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, criticized the ruling as dangerous.
“[It] puts the safety of Missouri women in jeopardy. Abortion providers will no longer be held to basic standards that keep patients safe and hold clinics accountable. I stand behind [Hanaway] in appealing this decision to the Missouri Supreme Court. Missourians do not support this irresponsible reversal of patient safety standards,” Kehoe wrote on X.
Missouri voters will go back to the polls this fall to decide whether to remove the so-called “right to an abortion” from the state constitution.
A “YES” vote on Amendment 3 this November would repeal the 2024 measure, restoring firm abortion restrictions and bringing a constitutional ban on sex-change surgeries and hormones for minors.
“Now more than ever, it’s critical for Missourians to vote YES on Amendment 3 in November and make it abundantly clear that our state stands for life and the protection of mothers,” Kehoe said.
