Federal Judge Allows Missouri 24-Hour Waiting Period Measure To Take Effect

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 08 Dec 2005 - 0:00 PDT

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Federal Judge Scott Wright on Nov. 30 issued a revised preliminary injunction that allows a Missouri law (HB 156) requiring a 24-hour waiting period for abortions to take effect but continues to bar a provision that mandates what information abortion providers must discuss with their patients, the AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (Lieb, AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/1). The law would require physicians to provide information about "risk factors, including any physical, psychological or situational factors for the proposed procedure." The measure became law in September 2003 after the state Legislature overrode former Gov. Bob Holden's (D) veto of the bill. Planned Parenthood affiliates in October 2003 filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent the implementation of the law. Wright later that month issued a temporary restraining order against the law, but a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May 2004 lifted the temporary injunction, and the law went into effect. Wright the following month issued a second temporary injunction, barring enforcement of the law during a separate suit in state court. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 21 ruled 2-1 to uphold certain elements of Wright's second injunction, requiring the order be sent back to Wright for modifications that would make the injunction more restrictive (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/21).

Revised Injunction Details
Wright said in his ruling that, with the exception of medical emergencies, abortion providers must discuss "truthful, nonmisleading information of the nature of the proposed procedure" 24 hours prior to an abortion. Wright also said physicians should receive a patient's written consent before performing the procedure -- a requirement that predates the 24-hour waiting period law. The revised injunction is an attempt to make Missouri law consistent with a 1992 Supreme Court decision that upheld a similar Pennsylvania 24-hour waiting period requirement. Wright's revised injunction is set to expire automatically 10 days after a final decision in the state case (AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 12/1).

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