Columbia PP Clinic Denied Request To Perform Abortions

A federal judge has ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot resume abortions at its Columbia clinic.

State law requires clinics that provide abortions to have physicians with admitting privileges at nearby hospital. The Columbia clinic has been unable to secure a physician with those privileges. The clinic had filed an injunction in December asking that it be allowed to resume abortions in Columbia.

U.S. Western District Court Judge Brian Wimes ruled Friday that requiring the privileges was not an “undue burden” to women’s access to abortion.

St. Louis has the only Missouri clinic able to provide abortions. Wimes wrote that requiring women to drive farther to obtain an abortion also was not an “undue burden.”

Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.