SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Access to abortion is starting to open up in Missouri. The state had one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, but back in November, voters approved a constitutional amendment to end it. But rules in place for years which controlled abortion clinics have kept the clinics from resuming the procedures. Now a court has put those rules on hold, and St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Fentem is here to explain what it means. Hey there.
SARAH FENTEM, BYLINE: Hi.
DETROW: So that is a lot of back-and-forth, so let's start with this. There was a court ruling on Friday that cleared the way for abortion access. At this moment, is abortion treatment available in Missouri clinics?
FENTEM: So people from a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas City announced over the weekend they had performed an abortion there. So at least one has happened. And here in St. Louis, the organization's leaders say they want to begin making appointments for medication-assisted abortions at a clinic here. So far, it's only those two clinics and one other that plan to resume abortions here in Missouri. And Planned Parenthood officials say the organization will potentially expand to other locations or even look at mobile clinics in the future. Planned Parenthood Great Rivers CEO Margot Riphagen says clinics want to go back to work. Here she is.
MARGOT RIPHAGEN: Our commitment is that we will ensure that the will of the voters is instituted and that we can provide abortion care here in Missouri no matter what.
FENTEM: And spokesman Nick Dunne from the St. Louis clinic told me they're waiting on some final approvals from state regulators before they can schedule appointments there.
DETROW: Can you step back and remind us how we got to this point? Because Missouri is a state that had a near total ban. This was a ban with no exceptions for rape or incest.
FENTEM: Right. Missouri Republicans had created a so-called trigger ban that the state put in place literal minutes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But Missouri voters last year passed a ballot initiative that put the right to an abortion up until the point of viability into the state constitution. But laws about facilities and how clinics operate and how they had to perform abortions were still on the books. And Planned Parenthood argued with those laws in place, the clinics couldn't start abortions even after Amendment 3 passed. And a judge, appointed by a Republican, has now issued an order that puts those requirements on hold. And that means clinics can again offer the procedure here.
DETROW: Got it. So how are anti-abortion groups reacting to all of this?
FENTEM: Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion activists say they're pushing really hard in the state legislature this year to put abortion restrictions back on the books. Missouri State Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman was one of the authors of the state's trigger ban, and she was outside Planned Parenthood's St. Louis clinic earlier this week with other anti-abortion protesters.
MARY ELIZABETH COLEMEN: This is about death and destruction. This is not about protecting women's health, protecting their options. It's about saying that for a woman to be successful, she must pay the price with the life of her child.
FENTEM: And she mentioned one proposal that would put another constitutional amendment to Missouri voters that would only allow abortions in the case of rape or incest. And finally, many who are watching this play out expect our state's attorney general, who's named Andrew Bailey, to go back to court and reimpose some of the old rules.
DETROW: OK, so this issue is still up in the air. This is not settled permanently. But broadly, how does Missouri fit in now with what is going on in other states?
FENTEM: States have been passing their own laws, and people have been voting on abortion rights since 2022's Supreme Court decision. And so it varies state by state, and Missouri's close to a lot of states that have near total bans. And it's possible we'll see patients coming into our state now to get the procedure.
DETROW: That's Sarah Fentem of St. Louis Public Radio. Thanks so much.
FENTEM: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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