Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon (D) and Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region are debating whether a law (HB 156) requiring a 24-hour waiting period for abortions is in effect after a ruling by a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (Mannies, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/17). The panel on Wednesday ruled 2-1 to uphold certain elements of the injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Scott Wright, requiring the order be sent back to Wright for modifications that would make the injunction more restrictive. Among other modifications, the appellate panel wrote that the new preliminary injunction needs to expire automatically 10 days after a final decision in a separate suit that is challenging the law in state court (Leib, AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/16). The law would require physicians to provide information about "risk factors, including any physical, psychological or situational factors for the proposed procedure." The measure became law in September 2003 after the state Legislature overrode former Gov. Bob Holden's (D) veto of the bill. Planned Parenthood affiliates in October 2003 filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent the implementation of the law. Wright later that month issued a temporary restraining order against the law, but a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May 2004 lifted the temporary injunction, and the law went into effect. Wright the following month issued a second temporary injunction, barring enforcement of the law during the state case (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 11/10).

The Debate
State Solicitor Jim Layton, who works on federal appeals under Nixon, said the panel's ruling states that Wright's original injunction is "vacated" until he issues a modified version. Therefore, "[t]he whole statute is in effect right now," Layton said. However, PPSLR CEO Paula Gianino and the group's attorneys said that the panel's language in the ruling intended for an injunction to remain in place. Until Wright issues a new order, enforcement of the law will be controlled by local authorities in the two cities that have abortion clinics, St. Louis and Columbia, Mo. When Wright issues a new order -- which could come from Wright in the next couple of days -- the modified injunction likely will immediately go into affect, according to the Post-Dispatch (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/17).