This week, the ten-day trial over Missouri’s abortion regulations concluded in Kansas City. At issue are numerous state safety regulations that abortion providers say are now void after voters passed an abortion-rights state constitutional amendment in November 2024.
In the final days of the hearing, attorneys for the state called multiple women who regretted their abortions or suffered complications, including a woman who said she obtained two medication abortions from the Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia in 2012 and 2015, the second of which was followed by an emergency surgery to remove fetal tissue.
Although the trial has concluded, a decision is still months away. Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang gave both parties until April 10 to file post-trial briefs.