Federal Ruling: Missouri Planned Parenthood Cannot Perform Abortions

Feb 27, 2019

An abortion clinic in Missouri has lost a federal court battle, ruling that the clinic is not allowed to perform abortions.

Planned Parenthood in Columbia, Missouri has been federally mandated not to perform abortions, after losing its court case against the state. The current law in the state of Missouri prohibits abortions being performed when doctors do not have hospital admitting privileges – Planned Parenthood tried to fight the law.

The Columbia Planned Parenthood location has been legally unable to perform abortions since 2015, being unable to hire a doctor with hospital admitting privileges after “a panel of medical staff at University of Missouri Health Care decided to stop offering the privileges…,” The Washington Post reports.

To combat the ‘hospital admitting privileges’ law, Planned Parenthood Great Plains (that manages the Columbia location) filed a motion to be excused from the law. Live Action reports, “U.S. Western District Court Judge Brian Wimes ruled that the physician requirement did not affect enough women to constitute “undue burden.” He also found that requiring women to drive further for an abortion was not enough of a burden to rule in Planned Parenthood’s favor.”

Since this ruling now means that the number of active abortion clinics in the state has dwindled down to just one in St. Louis, Planned Parenthood is heated that their revenue is going down.

This is correct.

Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood is the *only* health center providing abortion in MO.

With a 72-hr mandatory delay, ban on ins. coverage & myriad other medically unnecessary laws, MO is one of the most restrictive states. #MoLeg #StopTheBans https://t.co/H9rBZ7HhFJ

— Planned Parenthood Advocates in Missouri (@PPMO_Advocates) February 26, 2019

However, Judge Wimes is not concerned about the money Planned Parenthood is going to lose. The Columbia Missourian reports Judge Wimes reasoning for the ruling:

“The record does not include evidence of the other relevant burdens associated with (admitting privileges). In particular, (Planned Parenthood did) not present evidence of attempts to find physicians with hospital privileges willing to provide abortion services at the Columbia Facility, or evidence of fewer doctors, longer wait times, and increased crowding at (the clinic in St. Louis that provides abortions).”

“Finally, the record does not provide a basis in evidence to approximate the number of women who will forego or postpone surgical abortion incidental to the inoperability of the Columbia Facility.”