JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ Planned Parenthood is asking a federal district judge to block two Missouri abortion laws pending a lawsuit the organization filed in November.
On Monday, Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region filed a preliminary injunction, asking that laws requiring abortion clinics to meet standards for surgical centers and for its doctors to have hospital privileges not be enforced while they undergo a legal challenge.
Similar laws in Texas were deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, inspiring a similar legal battle in Missouri.
Supporters of the requirements say they ensure women can undergo safe abortions in clean facilities.
But abortion advocates have long argued that the strict laws merely keep most clinics in the state from being able to perform the procedure, forcing women seeking abortions across the state to make a trek to Missouri's one remaining abortion provider in St. Louis.
"We feel we stand on strong ground requesting this immediate step," said Laura McQuade, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, on a call with reporters.
McQuade said the organization expected the judge to rule on the injunction in the new year, likely in January or February.
Should the judge block the restrictions, Planned Parenthood has vowed to immediately restore abortion services at health centers in Columbia and Kansas City, and to begin providing services in Joplin and Springfield.
The lawsuit has been criticized by Republican lawmakers, some of whom have already filed bills further restricting abortion for the 2017 session.
Among them is SB 41, which would protect alternatives-to-abortion agencies; SB 96, which would restrict abortions sought solely because a pre-screening suggested Down syndrome; SB 196, which would give the Missouri attorney general original jurisdiction to enforce the state's abortion laws; and HB 182, which would prohibit a person from transporting a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion without the consent required by state law.
Republican state Sen. Bob Onder said he expected the existing laws to be upheld.
Onder has introduced a comprehensive abortion bill that would regulate how fetal tissue is disposed, protect whistleblowers who work in abortion clinics, require physicians in clinics to file reports to the state Department of Health and Human Services and require annual inspections of abortion clinics by the state.
"We don't know why Planned Parenthood is so resistant to protecting the health of women and conforming to the same safety standards as other facilities that do surgical procedures," Onder said of the lawsuit.
McQuade said efforts to discredit Planned Parenthood are "baseless attacks to further (a) message."
"We'll stand by our safety record," McQuade said.
