JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a Jackson County judge to vacate rulings that allowed abortions to resume in the state, a potentially seismic ruling that could imperil access to the procedure.

The ruling, signed by Chief Justice Mary R. Russell, targets two preliminary injunctions from Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang. Those injunctions blocked a series of longstanding restrictions on abortion providers and opened a path for abortion access in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis.

The state’s highest court, in Tuesday’s two-page ruling, ordered Zhang to vacate those rulings and reevaluate her decision. It’s unclear how the order might immediately impact abortion access, but it could result in a lengthy legal battle and pause access to the procedure.

However, the text of the order appears to allow Zhang to issue another preliminary injunction blocking the restrictions on abortion access.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican who appealed Zhang’s rulings, celebrated the court’s decision on Tuesday, calling it “a win for women and children.”

“I’m proud of the work our office has done to hold the line, making Missouri the safest state in the nation for women and families,” Bailey said in a statement issued by his office.

A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, which sued to strike down the restrictions, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tuesday’s ruling could mark a major step backward for abortion rights supporters in the fight to restore access after nearly 52% of voters overturned the state’s abortion ban in November. In the months since the vote, Republican officials and lawmakers have fought abortion access in the state Capitol and the courtroom.

The ruling comes after Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed into law legislation that allowed Bailey, a staunch abortion opponent, to appeal temporary court decisions. The law was specifically aimed at fighting Zhang’s rulings in favor of abortion rights.

Before Kehoe signed the new law, Bailey would have had to wait months to appeal. But the legislation allowed him to immediately appeal the abortion rights rulings, and he did so less than an hour after Kehoe signed it into law.

The law represented a relatively new target for Republican lawmakers and officials: judges who rule against them. Dubbed by critics as the “Let Politicians Lie Act,” the law also restricts judges from rewriting potentially misleading ballot questions.

Zhang’s rulings temporarily blocked a series of TRAP laws, or Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers, that providers said prevented them from restoring access to abortion. Those laws included a 72-hour waiting period and licensing requirements.

A full trial over whether those restrictions should be permanently blocked was set for January.

If Zhang complies with the Supreme Court order and vacates her rulings that blocked those laws, the decision could result in Planned Parenthood pausing access to procedural abortions across the state. Or at least until Zhang reevaluates the case, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

While Tuesday’s order signifies a setback for abortion rights supporters, the law used by Bailey to appeal also faces a lawsuit that argues the legislation should be struck down for violating the state constitution in several ways.

Fight over abortion access

Abortion rights supporters have warned for months that the ongoing fights — both in the state Capitol and the courtroom — have instilled fear and confusion among residents about where access currently stands.

Mallory Schwarz, the executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, which was part of the campaign to restore abortion access in November, sharply criticized Bailey and “anti abortion politicians in Jeff City” who she said “have once again weaponized our political system against Missourians.”

“What’s really clear here is the confusion this will cause among patients was the whole point,” Schwarz said in a statement after Tuesday’s ruling. “However, our coalition has dealt with setbacks like this before, and we know how to support people accessing care despite a hostile political environment.”

Schwarz said Missouri voters proved at the ballot box in November that they want access to abortion.

“This is not over, and I’m confident that ultimately abortion care will continue in Missouri,” Schwarz said.

In addition to the legal fights, Republican lawmakers this month also voted to put a new abortion ban on the 2026 statewide ballot. If approved by voters, the proposed constitutional amendment would strike down the November vote that legalized access and ban nearly all abortions in the state.

In the months after the November vote that restored access, procedural abortions were available at Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis. In February, the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Kansas City performed the first elective abortion in the state since the vote.

After that first abortion, Planned Parenthood’s midtown Kansas City clinic has offered abortion appointments “every couple of weeks,” Emily Wales, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, previously told The Star.

However, abortion providers have still fought state officials in court to restore complete access, and medication abortions remain inaccessible.

_____

©2025 The Kansas City Star. Visit at kansascity.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.