Missouri AG appeals ruling that removed abortion business safety standards

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has filed an appeal to reinstate health and safety standards for abortion facilities after those laws were halted by a district judge last week.

Key Takeaways:

• The Missouri AG has filed an appeal to block a recent ruling that paused laws requiring abortion facilities to meet health and safety standards.

• Often referred to by abortion advocates as ‘TRAP’ laws, these standards exist for the health and safety of women.

The Details:

Abortions resumed in Missouri on Monday after Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang issued a preliminary injunction against a number of laws regulating abortion — including a law requiring abortion facilities to meet certain health and safety standards.

Now, Zhang’s ruling has been challenged by Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who argues that the laws were originally put in place to protect the health and safety of women.

“We respectfully but firmly disagree with the Court’s decision to once again block basic health and safety regulations, just weeks after the Supreme Court reinstated them,” said Bailey.

READ: Man sentenced to 10 years in prison for slipping woman abortion pill

“These requirements were designed to ensure that women receive care in sanitary conditions from qualified professionals, with emergency safeguards in place. My Office has expeditiously appealed this ruling. Missouri will not stand idly by while the abortion industry seeks to strip away basic medical safeguards,” he said.

Why it Matters:

Often referred to as ‘TRAP’ laws (“targeted regulation of abortion providers”), such health and safety regulations are meant to keep women safe, especially in the event that emergency services need to be called — something that happens with alarming frequency at abortion facilities.

The laws don’t regulate abortion but instead make sure the abortion facilities are operating with the safety of women in mind.

Often the laws require abortion businesses to maintain certain standards, such as hallways and elevators wide enough to fit a gurney, as well as admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. But according to KTTN, with Zhang’s injunction in place, abortion facilities won’t even be required to maintain sterilization and sanitation standards, and there will be no inspections for unsanitary equipment.

The importance of these laws is all the more apparent when they aren’t enforced. In Illinois, which has virtually no oversight of abortion facilities, there have been 15 known injuries at abortion businesses in the past six months alone. Stories of botched abortions and unsanitary facilities are not new, and they aren’t likely to fix themselves with no accountability.

The Bottom Line:

“These commonsense protections were put in place because of the past actions of abortion providers in Missouri: moldy equipment, falsified reports, and disregard for basic medical standards,” Bailey stated. “The abortion industry has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted to police itself.”

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