JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Today, Attorney General Andrew Bailey secured a major win for the rule of law, women’s health, and unborn life in Comprehensive Health v. State of Missouri, after the Missouri Supreme Court vacated a lower court’s preliminary injunction that had blocked enforcement of key health and safety regulations at abortion facilities.
“Unqualified medical practitioners, moldy equipment, and a lack of approved complication plans are just some of the many terrible things we predicted would follow in the wake of Amendment 3. Given Planned Parenthood’s sordid history of subverting state law, I will continue to ensure their compliance with basic health and safety requirements. I’m proud of the work our office has done to hold the line, making Missouri the safest state in the nation for women and families,” said Attorney General Bailey. “Today’s decision from the Missouri Supreme Court is a win for women and children and sends a clear message – abortion providers must comply with state law regarding basic safety and sanitation requirements.”
The now overturned injunction had prevented Missouri from enforcing laws that ensure women undergoing abortions are treated in safe, sanitary conditions by qualified professionals with emergency protocols in place. These regulations include:
- No Coerced Abortions: Missouri law prohibits abortion “unless and until the physician has obtained from the woman her voluntary and informed consent given freely and without coercion.” Activists attempted to erase this law. The Supreme Court’s order reinstates it.
- Sterile Equipment and Clean Facilities: Missouri’s infection control rule—19 CSR 30-30.060—mandates abortion facilities follow the same cleanliness standards as surgical centers. The abortion lobby fought to block it, allowing clinics to operate with moldy tools, unsanitized equipment, and unsafe environments. These conditions directly jeopardized patient safety.
- Qualified Abortion Providers: Missouri law requires abortions to be performed by licensed physicians with specific medical credentials. Activists attempted to erase this requirement, opening the door for underqualified personnel to conduct dangerous, life-altering procedures.
- Emergency Plans for Complications: Abortion providers must maintain written emergency protocols and agreements with nearby hospitals to treat serious complications like hemorrhaging or sepsis. These safeguards are especially vital given that 1 in 9 women who take abortion pills experience serious complications requiring emergency care. Yet the lower court blocked this requirement, forcing women to navigate life-threatening medical crises alone.
- Ultrasound Right: Missouri law gives women the right to receive an ultrasound and the opportunity to see and hear the fetal heartbeat before an abortion. This enables informed consent and helps identify serious risks like ectopic pregnancies. Abortion providers have sought to deny this right, pressuring women to make irreversible decisions without essential medical information.
The Court’s decision reaffirms Missouri’s ability to enforce these critical regulations, and vindicates warnings that Amendment 3 was a poorly drafted legal disaster. Opponents of the amendment cautioned that it would be weaponized by abortion providers to strip away all meaningful protections for women. That warning has now been realized in court, where bad actors attempted to strike down every safeguard on the books.
This victory also comes amid a broader pattern of lawbreaking by abortion providers in Missouri. Planned Parenthood in particular has a well-documented history of violating state law and disregarding women’s health:
- In sworn testimony, Dr. David Eisenberg, the former medical director for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, admitted that for 15 years, the organization knowingly refused to file required complication reports – simply because they didn’t believe the state would enforce the law.
- Dr. Colleen McNicholas similarly testified that Planned Parenthood did not report complications as required under law.
- In 2018, state inspectors shut down Planned Parenthood’s Columbia facility after discovering staff had knowingly used mold-contaminated equipment on women for months.
“The law is clear. The evidence is overwhelming. And Missouri will enforce every word of it,” concluded Attorney General Bailey. “This ruling is a win for common sense, for basic medical safety, and for the sanctity of human life. We will continue to hold Planned Parenthood accountable, and we will always fight to protect women, children, and the rule of law.