Restrictions

On June 24, 2022, Missouri began enforcing its trigger ban,^[1]Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.017(2); Immediate Efficacy of Section 188.017, RSMo, 22 Op. Att’y. Gen. 2022 (2022). which bans all abortions except to save the life of the pregnant person, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.^[2]Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., 597 U.S 215 (June 24, 2022), rev’d Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org., 945 F.3d 265, 274 (5th Cir. 2019). However, the ban is currently being challenged due to the state’s constitutional amendment.^[3]Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains & Planned Parenthood Great Rivers v. Missouri, 2416-CV31931 (Jackson Cnty. Cir. Ct. Nov. 6, 2024). On December 23, 2024, a state circuit court held that the state’s trigger ban and other abortion restrictions were unconstitutional and enjoined those laws.^[4]Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains et al. v. Missouri, No. 2416-CV31931 (Jackson Cnt. Cir. Ct. Dec. 23, 2024). The court also enjoined the eight-week ban, fourteen-week ban, … Continue reading On February 14, 2025, a state circuit court enjoined the facility licensing requirement.^[5]Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains et al. v. Missouri, No. 2416-CV31931 (Jackson Cnt. Cir. Ct. Feb. 14, 2025) (enjoining the facility licensing requirement). On May 27, 2025, the Missouri Supreme Court lifted both the December 2024 and the February 2025 rulings, allowing the state’s trigger an and other abortion restrictions to temporarily go back into effect.^[6]Missouri v. Zhang, No. SC101026 (Mo. May 27, 2025)(lifted the preliminary injunctions granted in Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains et al. v. Missouri).

Missouri has not repealed other laws related to abortion. Missouri retains gestational bans at eight weeks LMP,^[7]Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.056(1); Missouri v. Zhang, No. SC101026 (Mo. May 27, 2025) (lifting the preliminary injunction on the gestational bans granted in Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood … Continue reading and after viability.^[8]MO. REV. STAT. § 188.030(1). Missouri law asserts that life begins at conception.^[9]MO. REV. STAT. § 188.026.2(1)-(2). See also id. §1.205, Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490, 505 (1989) (“the life of each human being begins at conception” and … Continue reading It also prohibits D&X procedures^[10]MO. REV. STAT. § 565.300.3. and abortions sought for reasons of sex, race, or Down syndrome.^[11]Id. § 188.052(1) Missouri v. Zhang, No. SC101026 (Mo. May 27, 2025) (lifting the preliminary injunction on the reasons ban granted in Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains et al. … Continue reading Missouri law continues to include requirements that pregnant people must undergo a mandatory seventy-two-hour waiting period, receive biased counseling, and be offered an ultrasound,^[12]MO. REV. STAT. § 188.027; Missouri v. Zhang, No. SC101026 (Mo. May 27, 2025) (lifting the preliminary injunction on the biased counseling and waiting period requirements granted in Comprehensive … Continue reading and prohibitions on public funding,^[13]Id. § 188.205. and private insurance.^[14]Id. § 376.805. The state continues to require that both parents, a legal guardian,^[15]MO. REV. STAT. § 188.028(1)(1). or a judge^[16]Id. § 188.028(1)(4). consent to a minor’s abortion. If a parent consents, that parent is required to notify the other parent.^[17]Id. § 188.028(1)(1).

Missouri retains targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws related to facilities,^[18]Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 197.200 et seq., 334.100(27) ; 19 C.S.R. §§ 30-30.050 et seq ; C.S.R. § 2150-7.140(2)(V).Missouri v. Zhang, No. SC101026 (Mo. May 27, 2025) (lifting the preliminary … Continue reading admitting privileges,^[19]Id. § 188.080. Missouri v. Zhang, No. SC101026 (Mo. May 27, 2025) (lifting the preliminary injunction on admitting privileges granted in Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains et … Continue reading and reporting^[20]Id. § 188.052.. Missouri law continues to restrict the provision of abortion care to physicians^[21]Id. § 188.020. and restricts providers from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care.^[22]Id. § 188.021. Missouri v. Zhang, No. SC101026 (Mo. May 27, 2025) (lifting the preliminary injunction on the telemedicine ban granted in Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains et … Continue reading Providers who violate Missouri’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.^[23]See, e.g., id. §§ 188.017(2) (making it a class B felony to perform an abortion), 188.250(2), 188.030(3). See Missouri v. Zhang, No. SC101026 (Mo. May 27, 2025) (lifting the preliminary injunction … Continue reading

State Protections

On November 5, 2024, voters approved Amendment 3 recognizing reproductive freedom, including abortion care, as a fundamental right in Missouri.^[24]Sec’y of State, Certificate of Sufficiency of Petition, https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Elections/Petitions/2024-086WebSufficiency.pdf; Geoff Mulvhill and Christine Fernando, Abortion rights … Continue reading The Missouri Constitution now reads:

The Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person’s fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions.^[25]Mo. Const. Art. 1, § 36

Post-Roe Prohibitions

In 2019, Missouri enacted a trigger ban.^[26]Id. § 188.017(4); Immediate Efficacy of Section 188.017, RSMo, 22 Op. Att’y. Gen. 2022 (2022).

Missouri repealed its pre-Roe ban in 1977.^[27]1977 Mo. Laws 658, 662-63 (repealing Mo. Ann. Stat. § 559.100 (Vernon 1969).

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, Missouri is enforcing its trigger ban to prohibit abortion entirely. On November 5, 2024 voters approved an amendment to the Missouri Constitution to protect reproductive freedom.