Planned Parenthood cancels Kansas City abortions after Missouri Supreme Court ruling

Kacen Bayless and Jonathan Shorman, The Kansas City Star on May 27, 2025

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas City and Columbia on Tuesday canceled all abortion appointments after the Missouri Supreme Court issued an order that temporarily paused abortions in the state.

Emily Wales, the president and CEO of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, confirmed the cancellations in a statement to The Star. The affiliate had offered procedural abortions in Kansas City and Columbia after voters overturned Missouri’s abortion ban in November.

“Last November, Missourians adopted some of the strongest constitutional protections for reproductive freedom in the country, but we are canceling abortion appointments today,” Wales said.

The decision came just hours after the state Supreme Court ordered a Jackson County judge to vacate rulings that allowed abortions to resume in the state. The ruling, signed by Chief Justice Mary R. Russell, targets two preliminary injunctions from Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang.

Wales emphasized that her affiliate was confident that access to care in Missouri would ultimately be restored. However, she said that Missourians were now effectively back under an abortion ban.

“But today and until Missouri’s overlapping abortion bans and medically unnecessary restrictions are once again lifted, the people of this state are in the position they voted to end: they are less safe and less free,” Wales said. “Every part of government in Missouri derives its authority from the people, and the people have demanded access to care.”

The preliminary injunctions issued by Zhang 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, effectively pausing abortion access. However, the text of the order appears to allow Zhang to issue another preliminary injunction blocking the restrictions on abortion access.

The ruling marks 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.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican who fought against 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.

Sam Lee, a prominent anti-abortion lobbyist in Jefferson City, said he was pleasantly surprised by the ruling.

“We feel very pleased with the ruling,” Lee said. “And it appears that Planned Parenthood is not going to be able to do abortions, at least for a while.”

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

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.

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