O’FALLON, Mo.: A federal appeals court panel is weighing the fate of a sweeping Missouri abortion law, including a provision that prohibits a woman from having an abortion because the fetus has Down syndrome.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis heard arguments Thursday in the legal battle over the 2019 measure that bans abortions at or after eight weeks of pregnancy. The appeals court ruling isnt expected for several weeks.
Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood, operator of Missouri’s lone abortion clinic, and the American Civil Liberties Union sued. A federal judge blocked the law while the legal challenge plays out, prompting the states appeal to the 8th Circuit.
U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs said at the time of his ruling last year that Planned Parenthood…