Missouri attorney general pledges appeal over abortion decision

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri's attorney general said Monday that he is appealing a Jackson County judge's injunction, issued last week, that allowed abortion to proceed in the state.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a news release that his office has filed an appeal of the injunction issued last week. Judge Jerri Zhang issued the ruling on Thursday. The Missouri Supreme Court had blocked one of Zhang's similar rulings in May and told her to reconsider under a different legal standard.

Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas City had said they would resume services Monday after last week's ruling.

The lawsuit centers on state regulations that abortion choice advocates say make abortion de facto illegal. Planned Parenthood argued those regulations were at odds with Amendment 3, which was approved by voters in November and enshrined a right to abortion in the state constitution.

The injunction stops enforcement of those regulations while the lawsuit proceeds.

Bailey and other abortion opponents say the regulations are needed to protect women's health.

Bailey claimed in a news release that the Jackson County injunction means the state can't enforce laws against coerced abortion, require sterile equipment and clean facilities or require emergency complication plans. The injunction also means abortion providers can refuse to let pregnant women see an ultrasound of the fetus, Bailey claims.