Hearing To Determine Future Of Missouri’s Last Remaining Abortion Clinic Starts Today
St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer intervened in a standoff between the Planned Parenthood clinic and Missouri's health department on Friday when the facility's license was set to expire. He will now hear arguments for the case. In other news: the struggle to get abortion bans in front of voters, Stacey Abrams' trip to Hollywood, a hearing over Indiana's second-trimester ban, and more.
A St. Louis judge on Tuesday is set to weigh whether physicians from the state's only abortion clinic can be forced to testify amid a legal fight over the facility's license. The state issued subpoenas to staffers, contractors and former medical residents who worked at Planned Parenthood's St. Louis facility, according to court documents filed by Planned Parenthood. (Ballentine, 6/4)
Planned Parenthood sued Missouri last week after state health officials refused to renew the license of Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood in St. Louis because, they said, they were unable to interview seven of its physicians over 鈥減otential deficient practices,鈥 according to court documents. Abortion is one of the most socially divisive issues in U.S. politics, with opponents often citing religious beliefs to call it immoral. Abortion-rights advocates say the bans amount to state control of women鈥檚 bodies. (6/4)
After Gov. Mike Parson signed an eight-week abortion ban into law, opponents vowed to put the measure up for a statewide vote 鈥 similar to a successful effort in 2018 to repeal Missouri鈥檚 right-to-work law. But there could be an obstacle: A clause making one part of the proposal go into effect right away. Missouri鈥檚 Constitution sets up a process to put any piece of legislation signed into law up for a statewide referendum. (Rosenbaum, 6/3)
After Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp postponed a trip to Hollywood amid fallout over the abortion ban he signed into law, his Democratic rival Stacey Abrams is planning to go instead. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Abrams will meet with Hollywood figures June 11 alongside the president of an abortion rights group. An invitation obtained by the newspaper says they'll address the "reality that employees in the state may not have full access to healthcare." (6/3)
A federal judge grilled an attorney for the state of Indiana on Monday over whether the Legislature had legitimate reasons for approving a law that would largely ban a second-trimester abortion procedure. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is seeking a preliminary injunction blocking the restrictions on dilation and evacuation abortions, which the legislation calls "dismemberment abortion." (Davies, 6/3)
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Monday is expected to lambast abortion-rights activists who she says are demanding 鈥渃onformity.鈥 Axios reports聽that the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador under President Trump will criticize abortion-rights advocates in her keynote address at the Susan B. Anthony List's 12th annual Campaign for Life Gala on Monday evening. (Daugherty, 6/3)
The president of the nation鈥檚 largest anti-abortion advocacy group said Monday night it would spend $41 million in the 2020 cycle to re-elect President Trump and 鈥減ro-life鈥 members of Congress while advocating for more abortion restrictions聽at the state level. The goal, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, is to eventually overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that established a woman鈥檚 right to abortion. (Hellmann, 6/3)