As medication abortion is once again available in Missouri, the state's Planned Parenthood officials say they want to expand telehealth options to allow patients to complete at-home abortions.
Three Planned Parenthood clinics – in St. Louis, Kansas City and Columbia – this week are offering medication abortions after Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang ruled many of the state's abortion restrictions violated a new amendment in the Missouri Constitution.
Those restrictions included a requirement that a physician be present when a patient takes the initial pill to induce an abortion.
"Our plans are to expand, and that was one of the most exciting things that we got to talk about at trial ... thinking about what a future would be without medically unnecessary restrictions," said Emily Wales, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates clinics in Columbia and Kansas City. "People need all health care, and especially abortion care, which is time sensitive, close to home."
Voters approved an amendment in 2024 that ensured Missourians the right to the procedure, but representatives from Planned Parenthood said the state's laws made it impossible to offer medication abortions to patients in Missouri.
Zhang in her decision struck down several other laws, including one that patients must adhere to a 72-hour waiting period, a rule that requires providers to give patients materials that state "the life of a human being begins at conception," and rules regarding construction and staffing of facilities.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said she plans to appeal the decision to the state's Supreme Court. During a 10-day bench trial earlier this year, lawyers for the state said that restrictions were necessary to keep patients safe.
Medication abortion is the most common form of the procedure, accounting for around 60% of abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Patients usually take two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, to induce an abortion. For the most part, it's only taken early in pregnancy.
"Some patients have very strong preferences to have their procedure done in the clinic, and other patients have really strong preferences to have a medication abortion that they can finish in the privacy of their homes," said Margaret Baum, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which operates clinics in the St. Louis region.
Affiliate CEO Margot Riphagen-Dunn said workers at the clinic are still analyzing Zhang's decision but want to expand medication abortion "beyond St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia, and will communicate those as soon as we have any additional updates."
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