KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Planned Parenthood of Missouri said Wednesday that it could resume providing abortion services within the state as soon as December.
The announcement came less than a day after Missouri voters approved Amendment 3 which provided a path for abortion services to resume in the state.
The state has operated under a near total-ban since June 2022, when a trigger ban went into effect following the repeal of Roe v. Wade.
On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood of the Great Plains made a filing in Missouri state court asking a judge to invalidate Missouri’s abortion ban and other provisions regulating care.
“We’ve asked the court to set a schedule to allow us to start providing care on Dec. 5, the effective date of the amendment,” Ella Spottswood, an attorney representing several organizations, said during a video press conference Wednesday. “We are ready to move forward as quickly as the court allows.”
Pending the judge's approval, Planned Parenthood would offer services at locations in Midtown Kansas City, St. Louis and Columbia.
The Missouri amendment, which is to take effect Dec. 5, does not specifically override any state laws.
Instead, the measure left it to advocates to ask courts to knock down bans that they believe would now be unconstitutional.
Clinics had stopped providing abortions in Missouri even before the state’s ban took effect in 2022.
They said that a list of regulations made it impossible for them to operate. In its legal filing, the Planned Parenthood affiliate that covers much of the state says the onerous requirements include clinicians who provide abortion have surgical licenses and that they conduct pelvic exams on all patients — even if they offer only medication abortions.
The Associated Press and Missouri Independent contributed reporting to this article.
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