Dean John Sauer

• Represented “Center for Medical Progress” defendants, who created a fake company and surreptitiously took video/audio recordings of meetings with the National Abortion Federation and then disseminated edited content in order to demonize abortion.
• Filed multiple well-known anti-abortion cases, including challenging the Title X rule and the city of St. Louis’ reproductive equity fund. Also filed amicus briefs in multiple well-known abortion cases in favor of rights restrictions, most notably Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA.
• Has donated to many anti-abortion causes, including the Missouri Right to Life PAC, and Vote No on 3 (opposing the state’s reproductive rights ballot initiative).

Sauer is a career litigator who, as the Solicitor General of the State of Missouri and in private practice, has been involved in a considerable amount of litigation surrounding reproductive rights. Sauer has a long history of defending restrictive laws and regulations in Missouri and has represented the state in challenging laws and regulations designed to expand or protect abortion access.

• Nat’l Abortion Fed’n v. Ctr. for Med. Progress, No. 15-cv-03522-WHO (N.D. Cal. 2015)
  • Sauer was one of several defense counsel in a lawsuit brought by the National Abortion Federation (“NAF”) alleging a conspiracy carried out by anti-abortion activists against NAF and its members by setting up a fake company that masqueraded as a legitimate fetal tissue procurement organization. The fake company then formed business relationships with NAF, surreptitiously took video/audio recordings of meetings with NAF, and disseminated edited videos of those meetings as part of an alleged scheme to intimidate/demonize NAF and its members in the national media.  
  • NAF moved for and successfully obtained a preliminary injunction from the district court preventing further publication of any video/audio material. The litigation is still ongoing, although Sauer is no longer involved.
• Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains v. Williams, No. 2:16-04313-CV-C-HFS (W.D. Mo. 2017)
  • Sauer defended Josh Hawley, then-Attorney General of the State of Missouri, and Dr. Randall Williams, then-Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, in a lawsuit regarding the state’s TRAP law requiring abortion clinics to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers and mandating that abortion providers maintain privileges with a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic.  
  • Planned Parenthood alleged that the requirements severely restricted access to abortion in Missouri. Plaintiffs moved for voluntary dismissal in 2019 after determining that continuing litigation would not be an efficient use of party and judicial resources.
• Satanic Temple v. Nixon, No. 4:15CV986 HEA, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 195117, (E.D. Mo. July 15, 2016), aff’d 735 Fed. Appx. 900 (8th Cir. 2018)
  • Sauer represented Missouri Governor Mike Parson and Attorney General Josh Hawley in a lawsuit filed by the Satanic Temple alleging that several state-mandated abortion advisories and procedures (referred to as the “Missouri Tenets”) violated their rights under the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment. The Missouri Tenets included biased counseling and ultrasound requirements as well as a mandatory 72-hour waiting period.
  • The Eastern District of Missouri and Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Plaintiffs lacked standing and did not decide the case on the merits.
• Planned Parenthood of St. Louis Region v. Mo. Dept. of Soc. Servs., 602 S.W.3d 201 (Mo. 2020)
  • Sauer represented the State of Missouri in a lawsuit regarding an appropriations bill specifying that “[n]o funds shall be expended to any abortion facility.” 
  • Planned Parenthood challenged the constitutional validity of the relevant section of the appropriations bill on the grounds that it is impermissible under the Missouri Constitution to use an appropriations bill to amend substantive law.  
  • The Supreme Court of Missouri determined that the provision was unconstitutional, affirming the lower court’s determination.
• Reprod. Health Servs. of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region v. Parson, 408 F.Supp. 3d 1049 (W.D. Mo. 2019), aff’d 1 F.4th 552 (8th Cir. 2021)
  • Sauer represented Missouri Governor Mike Parsons and other state government officials in a lawsuit seeking to prevent several abortion-restrictive provisions in Missouri House Bill 126 from going into effect.   
  • Planned Parenthood successfully obtained a preliminary injunction prohibiting the effect of the bill as to all pre-viability abortions. Unfortunately, the injunction was later vacated and the matter was remanded for further proceedings consistent with Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
• Missouri v. City of St. Louis, No. 4:22-CV-00789 (E.D. Mo. 2022)
  • Sauer represented the state of Missouri in a suit filed against the City of St. Louis challenging local legislation establishing a “Reproductive Equity Fund” that provided access to abortion through logistical support and was funded with $1.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds.  
  • The Circuit Court granted the State’s motion for preliminary injunction, temporarily enjoining the City from granting funds for activities related to abortion services.
• Ohio v. Becerra, 87 F.4th 759 (6th Cir. 2023)
  • Sauer represented the state of Missouri in a suit filed alongside ten other states against HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra regarding an HHS regulation eliminating strict physical and financial separation between Title X services and abortion services, and requiring pregnancy counseling and referrals for abortion services when requested. 
  • Plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction preventing the Final Rule from taking effect, arguing that two abortion-related provisions in the Final Rule were arbitrary and capricious and represented an impermissible construction of Title X.  While the lower court denied the motion, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. The case was remanded for further proceedings.
• Murthy v. Missouri, 603 U.S. 43 (2024)
  • Sauer represented the state of Missouri in filing a lawsuit alongside the state of Louisiana against President Biden, alleging that federal officials violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment by spreading misinformation regarding COVID-19 and “ask[ing] social-media companies to censor misinformation regarding climate change, gender discussions, abortion, and economic policy.” 
  • The district court granted Plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction. The district court, and later, the Sixth Circuit, found that the evidence showed the existence of “a coordinated campaign” intended to suppress protected free speech postings by American citizens.  
  • The district court’s injunction was suspended by the Supreme Court pending review of the case, and the Supreme Court eventually held that Plaintiffs failed to establish Article III standing to seek an injunction.

Sauer has also filed various amicus briefs expressing anti-abortion views on behalf of the State of Missouri and medical trade associations.  

• Little Rock Fam. Plan. Servs. v. Rutledge, No. 19-2690 (8th Cir. 2021): supporting the State of Arkansas in a challenge to three of the state’s abortion restrictions including an 18-week ban, reason ban, and requirement that abortion care be provided by a licensed physician.
• Isaacson v. Brnovich, Nos. 21-16645, 21-16711 (9th Cir. 2021): supporting Arizona’s law criminalizing abortions based on genetic abnormalities.
• All. For Hippocratic Med. v. U.S. Food & Drug Admin. 78 F.4th 210 (5th Cir. 2023): arguing on behalf of the United States Medical Association that the FDA approved mifepristone without adequately establishing its safety, and that the FDA was both excluding physicians from the process of administering mifepristone while simultaneously compelling physicians to participate in “abortions when they would rather not be involved.”
• Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc. v. Reynolds ex rel. State of Iowa, 9 N.W.3d 37 (Iowa 2024): arguing on behalf of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine that abortion presents a grave threat to the integrity, ethics, and public reputation of the medical profession.

In 2019, Sauer represented Missouri in an administrative action brought by Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, the last remaining health center in the state with a license to provide abortion, alleging that the state had wrongfully withheld its abortion license. 

• Notably, during a hearing in connection with this matter, the director of Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services admitted under oath to keeping a spreadsheet of women’s menstrual cycles to track abortion patients. 
• The Missouri Administrative Hearing Commission renewed Planned Parenthood’s abortion license in 2020.

• Missouri Right to Life Political Action Committee: Sauer donated $500,000 to the organization in 2024. The organization’s mission is “identifying and supporting pro-life political candidates and opposing pro-abortion candidates in state level elections,” as well as supporting pro-life ballot measures and opposing “anti-life” ballot measures.
• Missouri Stands with Women: Sauer donated $20,000 to the coalition, which aims to provide women and girls with “protection from the potential risks posed by unrestricted abortions with poor medical oversight” and to oppose “Big Abortion’s agenda.” 
• Vote “NO” on 3: Sauer donated $257,000 to the organization dedicated to opposing a ballot initiative that would amend the Missouri Constitution to add a fundamental right to reproductive freedom. The ballot measure was ultimately approved.