Missourians voted this week to pass Amendment 3, establishing a constitutional right to abortion which will take effect on Dec. 5. If a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood on Wednesday is successful, its Columbia location on North Providence Road will offer abortion services for the first time since 2018.
Emily Wales serves as president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. She said the lawsuit to strike down Missouri’s total abortion ban will likely continue for months, but Planned Parenthood hopes to restore abortion access by Dec. 5.
“We have asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction, or a temporary restraining order, at the beginning of the case, acknowledging that Missourians’ constitutional rights will immediately be impacted once the new constitutional change takes effect,” she said.
If the Missouri Supreme Court grants an injunction blocking the enforcement of Missouri’s current total abortion ban, Wales said that the Columbia Planned Parenthood clinic is fully equipped to start providing abortion services.
“Columbia really was the center of so much anti-abortion focus,” Wales said. “We know that it is the only point of abortion access for many people in mid Missouri, and for years, it provided care to communities throughout central and southern Missouri.”
Although Amendment 3 was a major win for Missouri abortion advocates, a second Trump presidency may mean changes to national reproductive health care policy. Missouri’s Planned Parenthood clinics are funded in part by federal family planning grant program Title X, which President Trump restricted during his first term.
Michelle Trupiano is the executive director of Missouri Family Health Council, Inc., Missouri’s sole Title X grantee.
“We are worried that it is possibly going to be worse than it was last time, either in changing the rules in such a way that quality care can no longer be delivered, or elimination of the program all together,” said Trupiano.
With some Republican members of the Missouri legislature vowing to repeal or weaken Amendment 3, Planned Parenthood is also anticipating potential challenges to abortion access at both the federal and state levels.
“We are not strangers to this fight,” Wales said. “And if we have to battle this again, we're ready to do it.”