Judge Blocks Missouri's 8-Week Abortion Ban Pending Court Battle

MISSOURI — An eight-week abortion ban will not take effect in Missouri tomorrow as planned after a federal judge blocked the law pending the outcome of a legal battle with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Gov. Mike Parson signed the Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act into law in May. It criminalizes abortions after eight weeks — before many women know they're pregnant — and threatens anyone who performs the procedure with up to 15 years in prison. The law contains no exceptions for rape or incest, making it one of the most restrictive anti-abortion measures in the country.

In addition to banning abortion after 8 weeks, Missouri's embattled law would ban abortion on the basis of race, sex or a Down syndrome diagnosis, require both parents to be notified before a minor can receive an abortion, and increase state funding to pregnancy resource centers that discourage abortion. It would also double the amount of medical malpractice insurance required by doctors performing the procedure.

Some of those provisions can go into effect, the judge ruled.

Parson has previously cautioned the courts to stay out of the matter, calling decisions like the one handed down today "reckless."

Abortion rights group No Bans on Choice had sought to overturn the law at the ballot box, but Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft refused to issue ballot language for such a referendum, delaying the group from collecting signatures.

A judge ordered Ashcroft to issue the ballot language Aug. 14, leaving advocates with only two weeks to collect the 100,000 signatures necessary to send the referendum to voters before the law was to take effect.

Only one Planned Parenthood clinic in the state — located in St. Louis — still performs abortions, pending another legal fight. Last week, the group forfeited millions of dollars in Title X funds when it refused to comply with a federal "gag rule" that makes it illegal for doctors receiving federal money to discuss abortion with their patients.