An appeals court issued a ruling Monday that will make it harder for abortion clinics to open or remain in business.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis overturned a 2017 ruling that prevented the state of Missouri from enforcing laws that required abortion doctors to have the legal authority to admit patients at hospitals and that mandated abortion clinics to pay for expensive upgrades to bring them up to hospital standards as ambulatory surgical centers.
Under the new ruling, abortion clinics will be required to follow those guidelines in order to operate.
"Invoking the Constitution to enjoin the laws of a state requires more than 'slight implication and vague conjecture,'" Judge Bobby Shepherd wrote in the court's opinion. "At a minimum, it requires adequate information and correct application of the relevant standard."
Abortion provider Planned Parenthood reacted to the ruling by accusing courts of causing "harm" to women across America.
"Look no farther than Missouri to see what kind of harm courts can inflict on women's rights and freedoms," Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens said in a statement.
Planned Parenthood originally filed a lawsuit against Missouri over its law in 2016, which promoted the 2017 and 2018 court rulings.
Content from Reuters was used in this report.
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