Missouri Supreme Court order reinstates ‘de facto abortion ban’ across the state

Jason Hancock, Missouri Indepedent

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The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a judge in Kansas City to lift an injunction that had blocked restrictions on abortion, a decision that upends access to the procedure six months after voters enshrined reproductive rights into the state constitution.

The two-page order imposes a “de facto abortion ban” in the state, according to the leaders of the state’s two Planned Parenthood affiliates. Abortion appointments at the Planned Parenthood clinics Kansas City and Columbia were cancelled in the wake of Tuesday’s decision.

Over the course of two rulings — one in December and one in February — Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang pointed to the voter-approved constitutional amendment in issuing