It ordered a lower court judge to reevaluate the case using the proper standards.
By Catholics for Catholics
In another twist of events in the abortion wars in Missouri, that State’s Supreme Court ordered a judge in Jackson County to relinquish prior rulings that had blocked the state’s regulations to take effect, according to The Epoch Times.
The state’s almost complete ban on abortion forbids abortions except in cases of medical emergencies. Nevertheless, during last year’s November elections voters chose to repeal the law and permit abortions until fetal viability, which is generally around the 24th week of pregnancy.
The State Supreme court said in a two-page ruling on May 27 that Jackson County Circuit lower court Judge Jerri Zhang had applied the wrong standards, when she issued the preliminary injunctions in December and February.
“The court ordered Zhang to vacate those injunctions and reevaluate the case using the proper standards—which require the judge to consider whether the plaintiffs would suffer harm in the absence of an injunction, and whether that harm would outweigh any injury caused to other people by blocking the state’s abortion ban,” wrote the Times.
Andrew Bailey, Missouri’s Attorney General, embraced the decision of the Supreme Court, saying it was “a win for common sense, for basic medical safety, and for the sanctity of human life.”
In a statement released on May 27, Bailey said, “the law is clear. The evidence is overwhelming. And Missouri will enforce every word of it. Today’s decision from the Missouri Supreme Court is a win for women and children and sends a clear message—abortion providers must comply with state law regarding basic safety and sanitation requirements.”
Just after the November 2024 vote, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit that challenged the state’s abortion ban and regulations that restrict abortion access.
Shang later ruled in February that the licensing requirements were discriminatory, enabling abortion services to resume.
Nevertheless, the state confronted those rulings, saying they left abortion places “functionally unregulated” and women with “no guarantee of health and safety.”
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