JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ Missouri's ban on abortions after eight weeks of pregnancy will not go into effect Wednesday.
However, a prohibition on abortions for reasons of race, sex, or a diagnosis of Down syndrome will still go forward despite a legal challenge.
That's because a federal judge Tuesday ordered parts of Missouri's new abortion law to be temporarily blocked.
The division of Planned Parenthood that runs Missouri's sole abortion provider, in St. Louis, sued July 30.
It asked the court to find unconstitutional the eight-week ban, as well as a prohibition on abortions for reasons such as race, sex and a diagnosis of Down syndrome.
Planned Parenthood also challenged portions of the law that would trigger bans at 14, 18 and 20 weeks of pregnancy if the initial eight-week ban was found unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Howard Sachs ordered Missouri state officials to not enforce the gestational age bans while the matter is litigated, saying the law targeted fetuses that were not viable outside of the womb.
His reason echoes Planned Parenthood's argument that a 1992 Supreme Court holds that states cannot bar a woman from terminating her pregnancy before viability.
However, he let the so-called "reason ban" stand, saying it would apply to viable fetuses.
The order came after a two-hour Monday hearing in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Missouri's Kansas City courthouse.
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