Missouri reduced to just one abortion clinic as new regulations take effect

Associated Press in Jefferson City
Wed 3 Oct 2018 17.44 BST

Missouri now has just one clinic providing abortions, after the only other clinic in the state that performs the procedure failed to adhere to new state requirements.

Federal appeals court judges ruled last month that Missouri can enforce a requirement that doctors must have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals before they can perform abortions. The judges issued a mandate on Monday for that rule to officially take effect.

The Columbia Planned Parenthood clinic was unable to secure physician privileges to comply with the requirement, so it cancelled abortions scheduled for Wednesday, which would have been the first since the mandate was issued, the Planned Parenthood Great Plains spokeswoman, Emily Miller, said. The clinic continues to provide other healthcare services.

“We are unable to provide abortion services now, so we’ve been working with patients who were on the schedule for today for abortion appointments to let them know what their alternatives are,” Miller said.

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