ST. LOUIS — Ever since the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973, Missouri lawmakers have sought to restrict abortion rights in the state with increasing success, with the result that all but one of two dozen clinics that offered the procedure have closed.
In 1984, the state recorded more than 20,000 abortions at 26 clinics. In 2020, 167 were performed at the state’s remaining clinic, Planned Parenthood’s Reproductive Health Service in Ƶ.
Missouri in 1825 became the second state to outlaw ending a pregnancy by banning the administration of any type of poison to cause a miscarriage. A decade later, abortion was made illegal no matter the method except to save the life of a mother.
In 1907, abortion at any point during gestation was made a felony, enforced typically on those performing an abortion where the woman died or needed medical care. That was the basic law until 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a women’s right to privacy under the Constitution includes abortion.
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Even when the procedure was illegal, Missouri women could still obtain an abortion. For example, midwives, often working in concert with doctors, offered the procedure in the late 19th century, according to news stories. They even advertised their services to “” in the Post-Dispatch.
“The attacks on abortion access from the Missouri General Assembly started really as soon as the Roe v. Wade decision came down,” said Mallory Schwarz, director of , an organization that has fought for abortion access since 1969 and at one time was affiliated with NARAL Pro-Choice America.
The laws, which became known as TRAP laws, targeted regulation of abortion providers. “Missouri has basically every TRAP law possible on the books,” Schwarz said.
Providers in Missouri fought back with a dizzying history of court challenges, some that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and impacted access across the country.
Clinics across the country also saw increasing violence among protesters and . In 1989, police arrested 44 anti-abortion demonstrators after they blocked the doors to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia for nearly four hours.
“Over the decades, we have pushed out providers who may not want to risk their livelihoods or their careers,” Schwarz said.
Missouri has also for religiously affiliated “crisis pregnancy centers” like Thrive and Birthright, which counsel clients against having an abortion while often . A recent found, since 2010, Missouri has funneled nearly $45 million to such centers.
Even with the ruling on Friday that triggered a statewide ban, Schwarz said she expects the Legislature to create laws that make it harder for Missouri residents to seek abortions in other states.
“We know this fight is not over,” she said.
Here is a timeline of major impacts on abortion access in Missouri since the landmark case:
1973 — Reproductive Health Services, located at 100 North Euclid in Ƶ, becomes Missouri’s first abortion clinic. More clinics quickly follow.
1974 — A long list of restrictions are enacted, including abortion providers must be located within 30 miles of a hospital.
1975 — A total of 10,245 abortions are performed in Missouri by 16 providers, including hospitals, clinics or doctor’s offices.
1976 — The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Missouri regulations that required written consent from women’s husband if she was married and parental consent for minors, but upholds requirements for record-keeping and tests of fetal remains.
1979 — Minors are required to obtain parental consent or judicial review to get an abortion. Patients must be given materials that state “Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being.”
1980 — Medicaid is prohibited from covering abortion unless a physician certifies that pregnancy endangers the woman’s life or is the result of rape or incest.
1983 — The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Missouri’s requirement that abortions after 12 weeks be performed in hospitals, but upholds the parental notice regulations and two-doctor requirement for emergency late-term abortions.
1984 — A total of 20,204 abortions are performed in Missouri, the most in one year, by 26 providers. Also that year, private insurance coverage of abortion is prohibited. Coverage can only be obtained through a rider at extra cost, which insurers are not required to offer.
1986 — Regulations declare life begins at conception. Tests are required after 20 weeks for fetal viability outside the womb. Abortions are banned in public facilities or by public employees. Abortion providers are required to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
1989 — Considered the first major blow to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Missouri’s law declaring life begins at conception, public facility and employee prohibitions, and viability test requirements.
1995 — A total of 11,203 abortions are performed by 10 providers.
2003 — Missouri women are required to have two appointments at least 24 hours apart before having an abortion.
2005 — A clinic in Springfield stops offering abortions.
2006 — A total of 7,556 abortions are performed by seven providers.
2007 — Abortion clinics are now regulated as “ambulatory surgery centers” with onerous administrative and building requirements.
2010 — An abortion clinic in Bridgeton closes.
2013 — A Kansas City clinic stops offering abortions.
2014 — Waiting time for an abortion increases to 72 hours between appointments.
2015 — A total of 4,765 abortions are performed by two providers.
2018 — Missouri begins to enforce pelvic exam requirement for not just procedural abortions, but also medication abortions. The closing of a Columbia clinic, after it lost a court challenge over hospital admitting privileges requirement and ambulatory surgery center requirements, leaves the state with just one abortion clinic in Ƶ and ends Planned Parenthood’s plans to open clinics in four cities.
2019 — The Legislature passes a ban on abortions after 8 weeks of pregnancy, but it’s blocked by a court challenge. A “trigger ban” — effective if Roe is overturned — would make abortion illegal to perform except in the case of a medical emergency.
2020 — Missouri records a total of 167 abortions performed by just one provider.
June 24, 2022 — Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court issues a landmark ruling that overturns Roe v. Wade, Gov. Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt, in parallel actions, trigger a state law that effectively ends abortion in Missouri.
Sources: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Guttmacher Institute and news archives.
Updated at 1:52 p.m. Friday, June 24.