Federal appeals court blocks sweeping Missouri abortion ban BY TAL AXELROD - 06/09/21 01:25 PM EDT A federal appeals court blocked a sweeping Missouri law that would place tight restrictions on abortion in the state. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a ruling Wednesday upheld a lower court’s injunction of the law, which would ban the procedure after eight weeks of pregnancy. The statute also specifies that an abortion cannot be performed “solely because of a prenatal diagnosis” indicating a child might have Down syndrome. The three-judge panel ruled that Missouri's law amounted to a ban, rather than a restriction, on the procedure. “[T]here is nothing an individual in Missouri could lawfully do to obtain an abortion at or after the applicable gestational age cut-off,” the court wrote. “[T]he Gestational Age Provisions are bans, and we agree with the district court that RHS is likely to succeed on the merits of this claim,” the court added, referencing the plaintiff, Reproductive Health Services, which operates a St. Louis abortion clinic. The court added that the prenatal diagnosis provision also amounted to a ban, calling it “categorically unconstitutional.” Abortion rights advocates hailed the ruling as a victory as a slate of GOP-led states across the country move forward with restrictions on the procedure. “Today’s decision is a critical victory for Missourians,” said Yamelsie Rodríguez, president of Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region. “For now, we celebrate our continued ability to provide safe, legal abortion at the last remaining clinic in Missouri. We know this fight is not over, especially with a direct challenge to Roe before the Supreme Court. Planned Parenthood will not back down — today is proof enough.”
A federal appeals court blocked a sweeping Missouri law that would place tight restrictions on abortion in the state.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a ruling Wednesday upheld a lower court’s injunction of the law, which would ban the procedure after eight weeks of pregnancy. The statute also specifies that an abortion cannot be performed “solely because of a prenatal diagnosis” indicating a child might have Down syndrome.
The three-judge panel ruled that Missouri's law amounted to a ban, rather than a restriction, on the procedure.
“[T]here is nothing an individual in Missouri could lawfully do to obtain an abortion at or after the applicable gestational age cut-off,” the court wrote.
“[T]he Gestational Age Provisions are bans, and we agree with the district court that RHS is likely to succeed on the merits of this claim,” the court added, referencing the plaintiff, Reproductive Health Services, which operates a St. Louis abortion clinic.
The court added that the prenatal diagnosis provision also amounted to a ban, calling it “categorically unconstitutional.”
Abortion rights advocates hailed the ruling as a victory as a slate of GOP-led states across the country move forward with restrictions on the procedure.
“Today’s decision is a critical victory for Missourians,” said Yamelsie Rodríguez, president of Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region. “For now, we celebrate our continued ability to provide safe, legal abortion at the last remaining clinic in Missouri. We know this fight is not over, especially with a direct challenge to Roe before the Supreme Court. Planned Parenthood will not back down — today is proof enough.”