The Missouri Health Department declined the renewal.
With the introduction Alabama’s restrictive abortion ban legislation, the topic has remained central to the public discourse. While many have shared their outrage with regards to the topic, from social media users to celebrities and political affiliates, other states have shown a similar resistance to the practice abortion. And the state Missouri is the most recent state added to the list states restricting access to the practice. This past Friday, Missouri’s Health Department halted the license renewal the state’s last and only abortion clinic. If approved, the move would eventually make Missouri the first state in the US to not have any abortion clinics in decades. Fortunately for now, the clinic will continue to provide abortion services while a court injunction remains in effect.
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The state’s Department Health and Senior Services made the announcement that it would not renew the license for the Reproductive Health Services Planned Parenthood in the St. Louis Region before the occurrence a court hearing on Friday. The clinic’s license was scheduled to expire on May 31st, but a St. Louis court allowed it to continue operating thanks to a preliminary injunction currently keeping its doors open. The injunction will remain in effect until the hearing. A Circuit judge gave a deadline June 21st for the state’s health department to decide whether or not the license will be renewed. When the state declined the renewal, the judge stated he would issue one more order on the case. We thus expect more details on this in the future.