Missouri would have been the first with no clinics since Roe v. Wade was decided.
Missouri’s last remaining abortion clinic will stay open, at least temporarily.
A judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order keeping the clinic open. Without such an order, it would have been forced to stop offering abortions after today due to a dispute with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The department had accused the clinic of unspecified “deficient practices” and refused to renew its license unless all physicians submitted to interviews. But Planned Parenthood, which operates the clinic, was concerned the interviews could lead to criminal prosecution.
The organization filed suit and, on Friday, a judge in the Circuit Court of St. Louis allowed the clinic to keep offering abortion services while the case proceeds. Another hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, June 4.
“This is a huge sigh of relief for the many patients who need access to safe, legal abortion in Missouri,” said Dr. Colleen McNicholas, an OB-GYN with Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, in a statement.
However, she added, “tomorrow we go back to work to ensure access to abortion does not go dark at the last health center that provides abortion in Missouri.”
Meanwhile, Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, who has opposed Planned Parenthood’s suit, said in a statement that following Friday’s ruling, “the State will soon have the opportunity for a prompt legal review of our state health regulators’ serious health and safety concerns regarding Planned Parenthood’s abortion facility in St.
