Planned Parenthood filed a second lawsuit Monday over Missouri law SB5 which requires a state-approved plan that includes access to a doctor with admitting privileges to a hospital in case there are complications after an abortion pill is administered.
The lawsuit comes after a judge dismissed Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit last week over another part of SB 5 that required the same physician to consult with a woman for an abortion three days prior to the procedure. The judge said the requirement did not present an “undue burden” to abortion access.
This lawsuit claims that the requirement to have a plan in case there are complications from the abortion pill "is the latest in a series of medically unnecessary requirements imposed by the State, which will, without basis, limit women's access to an extremely safe procedure using medications alone."
Planned Parenthood says the rule has already prevented it from doing medication abortions at its facility in Columbia, Missouri and also claims that complication rates for the abortion pill are low.
They filed the lawsuit in federal court, claiming the regulation violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution.
"Enough is enough. We will not sit on the side of the sidelines while ideologues play regulatory games on the backs of Missouri women," Planned Parenthood Great Plains Interim President Aaron Samuleck said of the provision. "The state's treatment of Missouri women seeking sexual and reproductive health care is a disgrace and quickly turning into a national embarrassment."
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley commented in a statement, "the Missouri Complications Plan Requirement for medication abortions is a commonsense regulation that ensures women have access to adequate care in medical emergencies. My office will continue to vigorously defend these regulations."
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens commented last week on the slew of lawsuits the state has faced following passage of their new law regulating the state’s abortion clinics.
Satanic Temple, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU are suing Missouri because of our conservative reforms. We must be doing something right!
— Eric Greitens (@EricGreitens) October 16, 2017