ACLJ Defends Pro-Life Laws With Missouri Attorney General Against Planned Parenthood To Stop Abortion

The ACLJ has been asked by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to help defend pro-life laws against a barrage of lawsuits from Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Missouri enacted a pro-life “trigger law” banning nearly all abortions (with basic exceptions for the life of the mother). Planned Parenthood quickly filed a lawsuit challenging that abortion ban.

Recently, a Missouri judge issued a deeply troubling order in the case Comprehensive Health v. Missouri that would have allowed Planned Parenthood to resume abortions at its Missouri facilities. That dangerous ruling did not go unchallenged. Attorney General Bailey immediately filed an appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court, seeking to protect the state’s constitutional authority to defend the unborn.

In response, the Missouri Supreme Court blocked the trial court’s order – once again allowing the state to save unborn lives and prevent abortions. The Missouri Supreme Court found that the judge used an improper legal standard in ruling that abortions could resume. The Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling corrects that bad decision and prevents abortions from resuming in Missouri as the case continues.

But let’s be clear: The fight is far from over.

Planned Parenthood is claiming that the new Missouri constitutional amendment that passed in 2024 gives them the right to let non-doctors perform abortions, prescribe abortion pills through telehealth only, operate clinics without basic health standards, and avoid telling women about alternatives to abortion. The amendment, which broadly labels abortion as “reproductive health care” and guarantees a vague “right to reproductive freedom,” is dangerously open-ended. Planned Parenthood’s attempted interpretation would strip away any protections for women who may be victims of trafficking.

Yet despite the abortion industry’s arguments, the constitutional amendment does not remove existing laws that require clinics to meet medical standards, limit who can dispense abortion pills, enforce waiting periods, or – most importantly – require abortion providers to have a plan in case something goes wrong during a procedure. Planned Parenthood claims that removing these protections somehow advances women’s freedom, but Missouri Attorney General Bailey and the ACLJ strongly disagree – and we’re working together to push back against this kind of reckless and misleading interpretation of the law.

Missouri has been a national leader in the fight for life. As one of the first states to enact a trigger law banning abortions after Dobbs, Missouri boldly affirmed the fundamental truth that every life – born and unborn – is worthy of protection. Yet now, abortion providers and radical pro-abortion activists are working to undo these life-saving laws through the courts – and we must not be silent.

At the ACLJ, we are fully supporting this fight. We are proud to stand with Attorney General Bailey in this critical legal battle by sending our attorneys as “boots on the ground” in this case – directly defending this pro-life abortion ban. We know firsthand how powerful the abortion lobby can be – and how relentless its efforts are to strip away the rights of the unborn. But we also know this: Life is winning.

This case in Missouri is not just about one abortion clinic or one court decision. It’s about whether the rule of law and the constitutional order will be respected. It’s about defending the dignity of every human life. The activist pro-abortion litigation is not going to stop its all-out assault on women and babies.

This is a pivotal moment. If Planned Parenthood succeeds in stripping away basic, commonsense protections – like requiring clean clinics, licensed doctors, in-person visits for chemical abortion pills, and providing educational materials to women – it won’t stop with Missouri. It will take this playbook to other pro-life states and try to dismantle similar safeguards across the country.

That’s why Missouri’s legal fight matters so much. What happens here could set the tone for what happens next in your state. We must stay vigilant when radical pro-abortion agendas try to push radical-Left legislation in the state. What happens in Missouri could have ripple effects across the nation. That’s why your voice and support are so vital. Together, we must continue standing up for truth, life, and the rule of law.

Join us as we support Attorney General Bailey and the people of Missouri in their stand for life.

The ACLJ stands with Missouri. We stand for life. And we will not back down.