A new requirement in Missouri probably will cause further delays for women seeking an abortion in the state, according to Planned Parenthood.
The new rule takes effect Tuesday. It requires the same physician who performs an abortion procedure to also provide the patient with the materials to meet the state's informed consent laws.
"Basically, the same-provision mandate could force a woman to wait weeks to get an abortion because there are several things that have to happen," said Bonyen Lee-Gilmore, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Planned Parenthood affiliate.
While Planned Parenthood opposed the implementation of the new law through a legal challenge that ultimately failed, others such as Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and Attorney General Josh Hawley are praising it.
Other provisions taking effect Tuesday include: a new law that allows the attorney general to prosecute violations of abortion laws; a repeal of a St. Louis ordinance that bans employers and landlords from discriminating against women who have had an abortion, use contraceptives or are pregnant; new whistleblower protections for employees of abortion clinics and new requirements for clinic inspections.
Lee-Gilmore said the same-physician mandate will require women to meet the informed consent rules _ such as confirming they have read a booklet that includes the line, "(t)he life of each human being begins at conception," view an active ultrasound and either accept or decline an audible heartbeat offer _ at the same facility where they will have the abortion and by the same physician performing the procedure.
In the past, if a woman lived in Springfield, for example, she could meet those requirements at a facility near her home, wait the required 72 hours and then travel to Kansas City or Columbia for the procedure.
Now, two trips might be necessary, Lee-Gilmore said.
"This is going to lead to abortion becoming inaccessible," she said.
The new requirement could also cause scheduling conflicts among physicians, who will now have these additional tasks to complete.
"Planned Parenthood Great Plains (which services KC, Columbia and parts of neighboring states) has major provider shortage issues," Lee-Gilmore said. "We are utilizing services of physicians from other states, nowhere near our health center."
The new law is taking effect following a Jackson County Circuit Court judge's ruling on Monday that denied Planned Parenthood's call to block it.
Judge S. Margene Burnett wrote that the new requirement is "at best a moderate modification of the informed consent restraints already in place."
Lee-Gilmore said that such an argument does not take into account the entire picture of abortion requirements in the state, which taken together is making it exceedingly difficult to obtain abortions in the state.
"Abortion access isn't stripped away in one fell swoop," she said. "Abortion access is stripped away one moderate restriction at a time. That's how it happens in red states like ours."
The same-physician requirement was passed as Senate Bill 5 by the state legislature during an abortion-focused special session called by Gov. Eric Greitens.
In response to Burnett's ruling, Hawley released the following statement:
"I am very pleased with today's ruling," Hawley wrote. "SB5 enacts sensible regulations that protect the health of women in Missouri and we will continue to vigorously defend these."
