Missouri Planned Parenthood Granted Temporary Injunction
In a ruling that has advocates for abortion rights and a woman's right to choose relieved, a federal court in Kansas recently gave two Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in Kansas City, Missouri and Columbia, Missouri, a temporary injunction to allow them to continue operating while their parent company pursues a law suit against the state of Missouri.
The Patricia Brous Center in Kansas City and the Columbia Center would have faced closure for failure to comply with a new law that requires abortion clinics to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers. This would require many abortion clinics to comply with new rules for health and safety standards, such as widening doors and hallways to allow passage of gurneys.
The new laws apply specifically to clinics that perform five or more first-trimester abortions per month, or one or more abortions later than the first trimester.
In pleading for the injunction, attorneys for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri argued that closing down the clinics for renovations or permanently would make getting an abortion more difficult and more expensive. Furthermore, the Kansas City center only offers abortions through medication, and should not have to comply with regulations related to surgery, lawyers argued.
On the opposition, the Missouri Attorney General's Office countered by saying that enough abortion clinics remain in the area that no woman would be deprived of the opportunity for an abortion.
In the ruling, U.S. District Judge Otie Smith expressed the opinion that he agreed with the arguments put forth by Planned Parenthood about the nature of the Kansas City facility, and granted the temporary injunction in order to hear more thorough arguments at a September 10 hearing. At that time, the injunction may be made permanent by the court.
In the event that it does become permanent, both centers would be allowed to continue performing the services that they currently provide. However, if the judge deems that the abortion clinics should be required to comply with the new laws, then Planned Parenthood will have to face the prospect of making renovations or seeing one or both clinics shut down.
Stay tuned to Total Lawyers for more news regarding this crucial issue!
