Missouri Judge Strikes Down Laws Restricting Abortion

Planned Parenthood had not been providing medication abortions, deeming the rules too onerous.

A woman prepares to take part in a protest outside the Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center in St. Louis, Miss., on May 31, 2019. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Missouri laws restricting abortion are unconstitutionally vague and conflict with a constitutional amendment voters in the state approved in 2024, a county judge has ruled.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang on June 18 ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood and other plaintiffs, finding that many of the restrictions “violate the Missouri Constitution ... and may therefore not be enforced.”