Statement from NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, Judge Michael F. Stelzer of the Missouri Circuit Court in St. Louis issued a preliminary injunction allowing the only remaining clinic providing abortion care in the state to continue operating through June 21st. NOW celebrates this victory for abortion rights, which, at least temporarily,  prevents Missouri from becoming the first state in the nation without an abortion clinic since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

Yet this ruling also exposes the constant threat that reproductive rights face in America today as abortion opponents attempt to strip away women’s constitutional right to safe, legal, affordable and accessible abortion care. Including Missouri, six states in the U.S. only have one abortion clinic, and they are all in danger of the kind of underhanded, bureaucratic tactics that the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and Gov. Mike Parson are trying to use to render Roe meaningless. This case serves as a reminder that legislative bans on abortion are only one of the anti-abortion ploys that NOW and other reproductive rights advocates contend with every day. We will remain vigilant in protecting the reproductive freedom of women in Missouri and around the country.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745