A Missouri law that calls for one the nation’s most restrictive abortion regulations was halted on Tuesday after a federal judge allowed a preliminary injunction to stop the law from taking effect.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis battled attorneys for the state to stop the abortion ban until the law’s legality was resolved in court.
The bill, which was signed by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson in May and was set to go into effect Wednesday, outlaws abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, including in the case of rape or incest.
The only exception falling under the law is if a physician deems that the pregnancy would put the mother’s health at risk.
Pro-abortion advocates have vehemently argued against the law since it was signed saying that it would impact most abortions since many women do not know they are pregnant at eight weeks so it is ostensibly an outright ban.
The law was slated to go into effect on Wednesday but attorneys argued that the law would severely limit access to abortion and prevent the “vast majority of patients from obtaining the constitutionally protected medical care they seek.
“As a physician, I can tell you that Missourians believe that legislators and Governor Parson have no place in our exam room,” said Colleen McNicholas, the medical director for Planned Parenthood in St. Louis after court arguments, according to the Associated Press.
Attorneys for the state argued that only women who are seeking abortions have standing to block the law since they will be most effected, not the ACLU or Planned Parenthood.
If ultimately found unconstitutional, the law also includes less-restrictive provisions that would prohibit abortions after 14, 18 and 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Missouri is one of six states that has only one abortion clinic. The other five states are Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.