Interested Parties Memo: Despite headlines, abortion remains inaccessible in MO

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: What’s Next For MO
DATE: Friday, Feb. 21, 2025
RE: Despite headlines, abortion remains inaccessible in MO

One week ago today (Feb. 14, 2025), a district court judge in Missouri reconsidered and temporarily blocked the state’s facility licensing requirement for abortion clinics. This was the supposed final hurdle in restoring some abortion access in Missouri since voters approved Amendment 3. But, in the subsequent week, inaccurate and misleading headlines about abortion access in our state are exacerbating patient confusion. This memo is meant to help practical support orgs, abortion funds, reporters, and advocates untangle the headlines in hopes of amplifying accurate information and combatting confusion.

Please feel free to share this across your community as you need. Direct aid folks and those helping patients in Missouri could use your help to distribute accurate information and calm the chaos that has ensued.

Appointment Intake

Abortion appointments at the one potential provider in Missouri - Planned Parenthood - remained unavailable between Feb. 17-21. The KC Star, NY Times, and others inaccurately reported that abortion care resumed in MO this past week and that Planned Parenthood is waiting for approval from the state on a required complication plan. Though, the complication plan requirement was enjoined in a December 2024 court order so the reason for the delay is uclear. It appears that a single procedural abortion was provided in Kansas City, as reported by the KC Star. The patient already had a scheduled appointment in Kansas and was given the opportunity to change locations for the procedure.

Calls between Feb. 17-21 to schedule abortion appointments at both affiliates operating in the state (Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers), revealed 1) the state’s only potential provider is not currently taking abortion appointments in Missouri health centers, 2) is unable to tell patients when they can expect to schedule in Missouri, 3) is only scheduling abortion appointments at clinics in neighboring states, and 4) is unable to tell patients how far into pregnancy they will be providing abortion care.

Some responses callers heard and future patients might hear that could cause confusion include:

  • Feb. 17:

    • “Abortion is banned in Missouri.”

    • “Our system is not up and running yet so we can’t book appointments in Missouri.”

  • Feb. 18:

    • “There are a couple more laws we’re working on to clear the way to opening services, but we’re getting closer. You can check if anyone else in MO who has managed to get through the red tape: abortionfinder.org"

    • “None of our locations in Missouri are providing abortions. You’ll have to look online.”

  • Feb. 19:

    • “We aren’t scheduling anyone in Missouri.”

    • “At this time, we are only scheduling abortion appointments in Illinois. At this time we don’t know when we will schedule [in Missouri].”

  • Feb. 20:

    • “We aren’t seeing patients in Missouri yet and we don’t know how far into pregnancy we’re providing abortion care.”

    • “We aren’t doing abortions in Missouri…don’t know when we will begin providing in Missouri.”

  • Feb. 21:

    • “Missouri rights are slowly being restored, there are just a few underlying laws that need to be addressed. I can check to see if any other clinics in Missouri are ready. It looks like we are still scheduling in Kansas.”

    • “No appointments available in Missouri.”

Conflicting Information

Abortionfinder.org and IneedanA.org both accurately show abortion to be legal in Missouri but inaccessible at any clinics, including the Kansas City, Missouri clinic where Planned Parenthood told the KC Star Missouri clinics will “immediately” offer abortion across the state. In a subsequent interview, Planned Parenthood shared its mid-Missouri clinic will take a few more weeks before it can provide abortions and abortion services are expected to be available one to two days a week.

At this time, patients should expect to travel to Kansas City, Kansas, Overland Park, Kansas, Granite City, Illinois, or Fairview Heights, Illinois for the closest abortion clinics to Missouri. If you provide direct aid or support for Missourians, please know abortion until viability is legal, but not yet accessible. 

Remaining Restrictions

Some laws remain in effect, and these restrictions will continue to exacerbate access barriers, particularly for young people and people with low incomes.

  • Missouri enforces private and public insurance bans on abortion. These bans were not challenged in the lawsuit to block abortion restrictions and bans in the wake of Amendment 3’s passage.

  • Missouri enforces a parental consent and notification requirement that means young people will continue to need to seek judicial bypass if they cannot meet both requirements — receive consent from one parent and notify a second parent. These bans were not challenged in the lawsuit to block abortion restrictions and bans in the wake of Amendment 3’s passage.

  • Missouri’s new constitutional amendment allows the government to interfere after viability, and later abortion patients will likely have to leave the state to access care, though it is unclear how late in pregnancy providers will offer care (because “viability” is a murky line and clinics have not confirmed how far into pregnancy they will provide care). Missouri law still requires that at 20 weeks, providers must perform a “viability test” on all patients before an abortion. Litigants wrote a viability line into Amendment 3, and therefore will continue to be enforced.

  • Missouri continues to enforce an in-person visit to date the pregnancy before medication abortion is prescribed. Patients will need to travel in-person to a clinic to get an ultrasound before they are able to access abortion pills. This requirement was not blocked by the court’s preliminary injunction.

  • Missouri continues to enforce a physician-only law, a ban on other qualified abortion providers. Trained and qualified advanced practice clinicians cannot provide abortion care in Missouri. This requirement was not blocked by the court’s preliminary injunction. 

What’s Next For MO released this statement regarding the current situation in Missouri

We ask members of the media to use the following resources as you cover the changing landscape in Missouri.

Contact: whatsnext4mo@gmail.com