KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability, solutions and consumer advocacy. Share your story with Isabella.
—
Planned Parenthood made a new court filing in its ongoing lawsuit against the state of Missouri for restricting abortion access.
The organization is asking the court to allow medication abortions in Missouri.
After a lengthy back-and-forth legal battle, a Jackson County judge granted a preliminary injunction earlier in 2025 that allowed Planned Parenthood clinics in Missouri to perform surgical abortions following the passage of Amendment Three.
Planned Parenthood is now going through the same process to try to regain access to medication abortion.
Chemical abortions, commonly known as taking an abortion pill, haven't been done in Missouri for years. With Missouri voters passing Amendment Three in November, Planned Parenthood is asking the court to remove current laws to make medication abortions possible.
"It is part of the same set of laws which are politically motivated and don't have any basis in providing quality health care," Planned Parenthood Great Rivers President & CEO Margot Riphagen said.
Missouri requires providers to have a complication plan for prescribing Mifepristone.
That plan includes abortion providers designating a primary care physician and communicating with local physicians about the abortion pill prescription. Planned Parenthood argues that it violates patient trust and privacy.
Missouri also requires doctors to have tail insurance for a 21-year statute after the medication is issued, in case of complications years later.
"It is only being targeted at abortion providers," Riphagen said. "It's politically motivated. This is what we take issue with."
State attorneys argued in court on Wednesday that these restrictions are necessary to protect women and doctors from dangerous complications with chemical abortion.
Attorneys declined to comment on camera.
KSHB 41 News reporter Isabella Ledonne asked the Attorney General's office questions regarding the legal battle:
- Will the swearing in of a new Missouri Attorney General change the state’s stance or arguments in Planned Parenthood’s case in abortion access?
- Why has the state continued to appeal/fight abortion access in Missouri when voters approved Amendment 3?
- Why does the state believe the complication plan regulations and tail insurance regulations are necessary for providers to provide medication abortions?
This is the response we received.
"Attorney General Catherine Hanaway continues to defend Missouri’s health and safety standards for women and children. Today, our trial team did a great job presenting Judge Zhang with significant evidence supporting the reasonableness of the health and safety requirements at issue. This included statements from three key witnesses for State Defendants: abortion survivor Melissa Ohden, OB/GYN Dr. Ingrid Skop, and UMKC Law Professor Jeffrey Thomas. These witnesses collectively demonstrated the need for Missouri’s common sense malpractice insurance requirements and essential health and safety regulations safeguarding Missourians. We look forward to the judge’s careful consideration of the evidence. Our unwavering commitment remains to defend the common sense health and safety requirements that protect Missouri women and children."
The American Civil Liberties Union did not see a change in the state's position.
"We have yet to see if a change in the Attorney General will make a difference," ACLU Missouri Legal Director Gillian Wilcox said. "The new Solicitor General did argue at the Western District Court of Appeals and presented the argument that had been drafted by his predecessor."
Just down the street, attorneys also presented arguments in the state's appeal of Planned Parenthood's original preliminary injunction. That order allows clinics to do surgical abortions.
The legal director of the ACLU explained that a law that passed this year allows only the Attorney General to appeal a preliminary injunction, making this a first.
"At this point, we expect the state to do everything in its power to have all the restrictions on abortion care stay in place, despite the amendment that the voters passed," Wilcox said.
Decisions in the Jackson County Circuit Court on a preliminary injunction to reinstate medication abortions and a decision from the appeals court on whether the original preliminary injunction will be overturned are expected to be issued in the coming weeks.
—
