JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge blocked many of the state's abortion restrictions Thursday, reimposing a preliminary injunction against them just a little over a month after the state's highest court had lifted a previous hold.
The order by Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang said the abortion restrictions likely violate a state constitutional right to abortion that was approved by voters last year.
Planned Parenthood said the order clears the way for it to again provide procedural abortions in Missouri.
But Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said his office “will expeditiously appeal this ruling.”
The court order marks the latest twist in a multiyear battle that has seen Missouri swing back and forth between banning and allowing most abortions.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ended a nationwide right to abortion by overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, it triggered a Missouri law to take effect banning abortions “except in cases of medical emergency." But abortion-rights activists gathered initiative petition signatures to reverse that law.
Last November, voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to abortion until fetal viability, generally considered sometime past 21 weeks of pregnancy. That made Missouri the only state where voters have used a ballot measure to overturn a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
The state Supreme Court ruled in May that Zhang had applied the wrong standard when issuing rulings in February and December that blocked Missouri's abortion restrictions.
Upon reconsideration, Zhang again issued preliminary injunctions against the abortion ban. The judge also reimposed a hold on various other laws, including a 72-hour waiting period for abortions, numerous abortion facility licensure requirements and a mandate that physicians performing abortions have admitting privileges at certain types of hospitals located within 30 miles (48 kilometers) or 15 minutes of where an abortion is provided.
“Abortion is legal again in Missouri because voters demanded it and we fought for it,” said Emily Wales, president and CEO of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains. “Care starts again on Monday in Kansas City."
Planned Parenthood clinics in central Missouri and St. Louis also "will work as quickly as possible to resume scheduling abortion appointments,” said Margot Riphagen, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers.
The attorney general's office said it will keep up the legal fight.
“Missouri will not stand idly by while the abortion industry seeks to strip away basic medical safeguards,” Bailey's office said in a statement. "We will continue to uphold the State’s compelling interest in protecting women’s health, safety, and informed consent.”
Thursday's order did not address medication abortions, which remain on hold while Planned Parenthood wrangles with the state over abortion regulations.
The court battle is just one part of Missouri's ongoing abortion debate.
In May, the Republican-led Legislature approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would reimpose an abortion ban — but with exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. The measure could be on the ballot in 2026 or sooner.
FILE - Participants in the Midwest March for Life walk through the streets of Jefferson City, Mo., in front of the state Capitol on May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb, File)
FILE - People at an election night watch party react after an abortion rights amendment to the Missouri constitution passed, Nov. 5, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
BROADVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Four Illinois Democrats toured a federal immigration center outside Chicago on Monday, the latest members of Congress allowed inside immigration facilities after a judge last week lifted Trump administration limits on lawmaker visits.
Six months after they were denied access, U.S. Reps. Danny Davis, Delia Ramirez, Jonathan Jackson and Jesús “Chuy” Garcia entered the immigration processing center in suburban Broadview. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, criticized as a de facto detention center with inhumane conditions, has been at the forefront of an immigration crackdown resulting in more than 4,000 arrests in the Chicago area.
The Associated Press observed the lawmakers enter the boarded-up brick building after talking to a masked official at the door and then leave about an hour later.
“We wanted to test whether or not there would be a violation of a court order reaffirming that we have the right to be here at any time for any reason, without advance notice,” Garcia said afterward.
A federal judge last week temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.
After their visit, the Illinois lawmakers reported that Monday seemed like an atypical day with only two people in custody. A day earlier there had been 20, according to Garcia.
During the height of the immigration crackdown dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz,” more than 150 people were held at the facility, many for several days at a time, according to congressmen, attorneys and activists. Conditions at the center, where immigrants are processed for detention or deportation, prompted numerous complaints, a lawsuit and a court-ordered visit by a judge. Illinois does not have an immigration detention center.
Since then, immigration officials have said they've made changes and those held at the Broadview center have access to hot meals and legal counsel, among other things. ICE has rejected claims that the processing center is used for detention.
While the Illinois Democrats noted improvements, they raised concerns about toilets without adequate privacy, few showers, and no medical staff on site.
“This visit will not end our responsibility. We will follow up,” Jackson said. “We will be back and we’ll demand answers.”
Ramirez said not having a medical professional nearby was troubling, especially after the death of a 56-year-old man found unresponsive at an ICE facility in Michigan. Nenko Gantchev of Bulgaria was arrested in the Chicago area crackdown. ICE officials said it appeared he died of natural causes on Dec. 15, but the official cause remained under investigation.
Since the ruling, House members elsewhere have also visited ICE facilities.
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, gained access to the Broadview facility on Friday and reported the practice of holding people overnight seemed to have ended for the time being. He said he had tried multiple times to visit over the past few months.
In California, U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez visited a federal immigration facility in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. The Democrat, among the 12 lawmakers who sued, said there was no working kitchen, no on-site medical staff and limited food options, according to a statement.
In New York, U.S. Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat, both Democrats who also sued, visited an ICE holding facility on Friday at 26 Federal Plaza in New York City. In a joint statement, the congressmen said immigrants were being held for as long as three days without access to showers and proper beds.
“The Trump administration’s obsession with hitting an arbitrary — and unrealistic — number of deportations is creating a humanitarian crisis,” Espaillat said.
In Illinois, the Trump administration has kept strict controls on access to the Broadview facility, barring attorneys, family members of those arrested and journalists. At one point federal authorities built a fence around the building as protests grew and clashes with federal agents intensified.
Separately, U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Illinois said she was allowed to visit the Broadview facility late last month. Underwood, a Democratic member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, raised concerns about conditions, staffing and record keeping. She said no arrestees were present during her visit “due to a scheduled security system video camera update.”
A message left Monday for ICE wasn't immediately returned.
Four Illinois members of Congress left to right; Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., prepare to enter the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Broadview, Ill. (AP Photo/Sophia Tareen)
Four Illinois members of Congress left to right; Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., and Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., prepare to enter the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Broadview, Ill. (AP Photo/Sophia Tareen)
Four Illinois members of Congress Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., enter the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Broadview, Ill. (AP Photo/Sophia Tareen)
Four Illinois members of Congress left to right; Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., and Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., are allowed to enter the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Broadview, Ill. (AP Photo/Sophia Tareen)
Four Illinois members of Congress left to right; Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., and Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., leave after a visit to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview, Ill. (AP Photo/Sophia Tareen)
