Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Protesters Flood The Streets As Judge Mulls Decision In Case Over Missouri's Last Remaining Abortion Clinic
The Associated Press: Judge Considering Missouri Abortion Clinic License Case
A judge is deciding whether to ensure Missouri's only abortion clinic can keep its license past Friday, the latest development in a decades-long push by abortion opponents to get states to enact strict rules on the procedure. Like many states, Missouri over the years enacted a series of regulations, ranging from waiting periods before women can receive abortions to rules on the width of clinic doors. (5/30)
KCUR: As Planned Parenthood Fights In Court To Keep Clinic Open, Activists Demand Abortion Access
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood on Thursday told a St. Louis Circuit Court judge that Missouri health officials have delayed renewing a license to the state’s sole abortion provider by continually asking for additional information. In a hearing, Planned Parenthood’s lawyers asked Judge Michael Stelzer to issue a temporary restraining order barring the state Department of Health and Senior Services from denying to renew the license for its St. Louis clinic. That license expires at midnight Friday. (Fentem and Davis, 5/30)
St. Louis Public Radio: Tensions High As Missouri Awaits Decision On Missouri's Sole Abortion Clinic
The battle over abortion rights in Missouri spilled from the courtroom into city streets on Thursday as hundreds of people gathered near the St. Louis Arch to demand state officials stop trying to limit access to abortion. Carrying signs that read “I Stand With Planned Parenthood” and “Protect Safe, Legal Abortion,” they were there to protest he state’s efforts to limit access to abortion and the potential closing of the state’s only abortion provider. (Fentem, 5/31)
PBS NewsHour: Planned Parenthood: ‘It’s Simply Not True’ Mo. Abortion Clinic Breaks Rules
Missouri is part of a recent wave of state laws that would ban abortion almost entirely, sometimes without exceptions for rape and incest. The state is also making news on abortion for trying to deny its one remaining abortion provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, its license on grounds of alleged violations. (Brangham, 5/30)
PBS NewsHour: Anti-Abortion Group Says Mo. Planned Parenthood Violated Patient Safety
The national abortion debate is raging with renewed fervor, as a series of states pass restrictive laws banning almost all instances of the procedure. Among those states is Missouri, where officials are also trying to shutter its only remaining abortion provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis. (Brangham, 5/30)
KCUR: How Laws And Lawsuits Are Changing Abortion Access In Missouri
Missouri has long had some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the U.S. Now questions about Planned Parenthood’s license in St. Louis could mean Missouri losing its only abortion clinic. Below, find FAQs and answers based on our reporting. A St. Louis Circuit Court judge is expected to decide whether to stop Missouri from closing the only remaining abortion clinic in the state before its license expires Friday at midnight. (Toler, 5/30)
