Protesters hold signs as they rally in support of Planned Parenthood in front of the St Louis arch.

Missouri Judge Rules the State’s Last Remaining Abortion Provider to Remain Open For Now

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Missouri’s only remaining abortion provider—a Planned Parenthood located in St. Louis—was set to be shut down today. But thanks to a judge’s ruling, the clinic will be allowed to continue providing abortion services.

The clinic’s license was set to expire at midnight tonight because the state’s Health Department was, in the words of Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen, weaponizing the licensing process with a host of pointless and unmeetable demands.

Abortion rights supporters gathered in St. Louis Thursday to protest the Department of Health’s attempts to shutter the clinic. They rallied in the streets and organized a sit-in in the state offices’ Wainwright Building.

The judge’s order is just a temporary stay, so this fight isn’t done. But it’s certainly a huge relief in a state where reproductive justice is constantly under attack.

(image: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.