Anti-abortion advocates gather outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis in 2019. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
ST. LOUIS (CN) — A divided Eighth Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed an injunction that prohibits Missouri from implementing a strict abortion law that includes a ban on the procedure for fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome.
The St. Louis-based appeals court agreed with Planned Parenthood that the Down syndrome provision is a ban rather than a restriction.
“Unlike a regulation, the Down syndrome provision does not set a condition that—upon compliance—makes the performance of a pre-viability abortion lawful, thus preserving the constitutional right to elect the procedure. Rather, it bans access to an abortion entirely,” U.S. Circuit Judge Jane L. Kelly — the only judge in the Eighth Circuit appointed by a Democratic president, Barack Obama — wrote for the majority.