Missouri residents and abortion-rights advocation react to a speaker during Missourians for Constitutionals Freedom kick-off petition drive, Feb. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)

On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings that blocked the state’s total abortion ban, effectively putting the ban back in place and halting abortion procedures throughout the state.

The ruling orders Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jerri Zhang to lift her injunction on Missouri’s abortion ban, which makes it a felony to perform an abortion in most cases except for medical emergencies where the pregnant person’s life is at risk.

In Zhang’s rulings from December and February, she pointed to voters approving Amendment 3, a constitutional amendment that enshrined reproductive freedom into the state constitution last November. Zhang also struck down licensing requirements for clinics that provide abortion care on the grounds that they were unnecessary regulations. Any clinic that performs more than five abortions annually is subject to extensive regulations and must be licensed as an ambulatory surgical center.

The state Supreme Court ordered Zhang to vacate her previous rulings on the grounds that she applied the wrong legal standard. Zhang could implement another injunction since the Court also ordered her to reevaluate the case.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) spearheaded a challenge to Zhang’s rulings and he applauded the Court’s decision in a press release, defending the strict regulations and spinning the issue as a matter of health safety.

“Unqualified medical practitioners, moldy equipment, and a lack of approved complication plans are just some of the many terrible things we predicted would follow in the wake of Amendment 3. Given Planned Parenthood’s sordid history of subverting state law, I will continue to ensure their compliance with basic health and safety requirements. I’m proud of the work our office has done to hold the line, making Missouri the safest state in the nation for women and families,” Bailey said. “Today’s decision from the Missouri Supreme Court is a win for women and children and sends a clear message – abortion providers must comply with state law regarding basic safety and sanitation requirements.”

Emily Wales and Margot Riphagen, the CEOs of Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Great Rivers respectively, issued a joint statement condemning the decision.

“Missourians have made it clear they want the right to access health care in their communities,” the statement reads. “This decision puts our state back under a de facto abortion ban and is devastating for Missourians and the providers they trust with their personal health care decisions. At Planned Parenthood health centers across Missouri, our patients remain our north star, and we will continue to fight for their freedom to the constitutionally protected health care they voted for.”

Wales also told CBS News that Planned Parenthood, which owns the only clinics that provide abortion care in Missouri, hopes to be back in court soon to challenge the latest ruling.

When the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Missouri was one of the many states where a trigger ban instantly went into effect. Abortion procedures temporarily resumed after Zhang’s rulings, and 51.60% of voters (1,538,659) approved Amendment 3 last November to guarantee a constitutional right to abortion care and birth control.

Despite the will of the voters, and the majority of Americans supporting access to abortion in some form, the Missouri Republican Party has introduced legislation to undermine abortion access. These new bills propose things like directing state funds to anti-abortion pregnancy centers, establishing a database for women “at risk” of receiving an abortion, making it more difficult for voters to pass ballot measures and constitutional amendments and advancing a new amendment to repeal Amendment 3.