Charles Mostoller/Reuters
A federal appeals court on Monday struck down an injunction against a Missouri law imposing additional requirements on clinics that provide abortions, a move that critics say could disrupt abortion services in several cities. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals effectively upheld a law requiring abortion clinics to be set up as ambulatory surgical centers and doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals. The law had previously been blocked by a 2017 injunction. The federal appeals court’s decision “could impact services within weeks” throughout the state, according to Planned Parenthood, which said its abortion services in Columbia would have to be suspended. The organization’s plans to expand into Joplin and Springfield will also be affected. “These requirements do nothing to help Missouri women, and in fact actually hurt them,” Brandon Hill, president and CEO of Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, was quoted as saying by The Kansas City Star. “If these laws are allowed to take effect, women will now have to travel farther, wait longer, and use more of their own resources to access the health care they need most, if they can get care at all,” he said.