Planned Parenthood to Restart Regular Abortion Appointments in Missouri

Planned Parenthood to restart regular abortion appointments in Columbia, Kansas City next week. Two of Missouri’s nine Planned Parenthood clinics are poised to start performing regularly-scheduled surgical abortions next week, though clinic leadership says access to medication abortions is in the hands of the state. Only surgical abortions will be offered initially as the clinics await state approval to restart medication abortions.

Legal Context and Amendment 3

Two weeks ago, Jackson County judge Jerri Zhang struck down the final few regulations for Missouri abortion providers, calling them “unnecessary” and “discriminatory,” opening the door for abortions to resume. The regulations run afoul of the constitutional amendment granting the right to abortion, which voters passed in November as Amendment 3. Among these now defunct regulations is a requirement that abortion clinics submit a complication plan for medication abortions.

The Status of Medication Abortions

While Zhang blocked the regulations connected to the complication plan, the statute itself remains, said Emily Wales, president and CEO with Planned Parenthood Great Plains. Wales said Planned Parenthood submitted a complication plan to the state last week, but there has been no indication as to how long it will take to review the plans. Until that approval arrives, medication abortions cannot begin, Wales said.

Regarding the current situation, Wales stated: “We’re in uncharted territory here, because we don’t have regulations that tie to the statute, because they’re blocked.” She added, “I would be somewhat surprised if (the state) came back and said they are fine with the plan.”

Clinic Schedules and Procedures

The first elective abortion to take place in Columbia since 2018 is scheduled for Monday. Nearly seven years ago, the clinic in central Missouri stopped seeing abortion patients after a new law required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Soon, appointments will be available at least one day a week.

The Kansas City clinic, located 125 miles west on Interstate 70, performed the first elective abortion in nearly three years in Missouri on Feb. 15. Beginning Wednesday, the clinic will begin seeing patients for regularly-scheduled surgical abortions at least one day a week. Initially, they are scheduling patients up until 12 weeks in pregnancy, but Wales said they intend to expand the gestational age as they figure out scheduling. The clinic also hopes to expand the pain management offered for surgical abortions. Initially, they plan to offer patients Valium and local anesthetic.

National Statistics and Preparedness

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group, the following trends were observed in 2023:

• 63% of abortions in the United States took place using medication rather than surgical procedures.
• This number is increasing as the number of states with bans and restrictions on abortions grow.
• In states where abortion is legal, medication that induces a miscarriage is available to patients in their first trimester of pregnancy.
• Patients typically take two doses of medication, the second of which is often taken at home.

Wales said Planned Parenthood’s clinics in Kansas City and Columbia are stocked with abortion medication and ready to administer it as soon as the state allows. Leadership at the clinic in St. Louis said they are also ready to begin providing the medication as soon as the state green lights it.