JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down Roe v. Wade, a panel of federal judges on Friday ruled in favor of an appeal that allows Missouri to prohibit abortions that are based solely on whether a baby was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
While the ruling gives the state power to proceed with enforcing its ban on Down syndrome-related abortions, the policy was already in effect after Missouri enacted a statewide trigger ban of the procedure last month following the Supreme Court ruling.
The provision banning abortions after a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis was tucked into the state’s 2019 law that banned the procedure after eight weeks. Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region, which operates Missouri’s sole abortion clinic, filed suit against the law in 2019.
