Planned Parenthood seeks injunction to resume abortions at Columbia clinic

Planned Parenthood on Monday asked a judge to put an immediate halt to what organization leaders called “medically unnecessary” state regulations that put a burden on women who want to seek abortions.

In a conference call with reporters, leaders of two Planned Parenthood affiliates that operate in Missouri said if a federal judge approves their request, abortions could quickly resume at clinics in Columbia and Kansas City. Meanwhile, abortion opponents were planning Monday afternoon news conferences outside state Planned Parenthood clinics to reveal what they characterized as major news about the need for the regulations to promote women’s health and safety.

Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri filed the request Monday for a preliminary injunction against state laws requiring abortion clinics to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers and that abortion doctors have admitting privileges to a local hospital. The injunction request is part of a lawsuit the affiliates filed asking the federal court to strike down Missouri’s regulations after the U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down similar regulations in Texas.

In the injunction, Planned Parenthood argues keeping the law in place while the court considers the lawsuit would “impose an undue burden on ... patients’ right to choose to have an abortion” and that patients are suffering “ongoing irreparable harm” from the regulations.

Read more: http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/politics/planned-parenthood-seeks-injunction-to-resume-abortions-at-columbia-clinic/article_228191f7-b6f8-5021-a877-8030397a1b17.html

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