ST. LOUIS — A ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Court judge on Friday blocked the city’s proposed use of federal money to help people access abortion in Illinois.
The order from Judge Jason Sengheiser is a victory for Missouri’s GOP leaders, who moved swiftly to ban abortion in the state following last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision that had for nearly 50 years protected the right to abortion across the country.
Former Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, now Missouri’s junior U.S. senator, filed the first lawsuit July 21, the same day ºüÀêÊÓƵ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones signed into law a $1.75 million appropriation from the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Board of Aldermen to help women access abortions in Illinois, where it is still legal.
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Schmitt, running for Senate at the time, sought to block the city’s use of federal pandemic aid for the program. Shortly after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe, ºüÀêÊÓƵ aldermen passed a measure to use a portion of the nearly $500 million in federal pandemic aid granted to the city to help women access abortion care in Illinois.
In his ruling on the case Friday, Sengheiser declined to grant the city’s motion to dismiss the Missouri Attorney General lawsuit and blocked the city from granting any of the money to four organizations that had applied for the funds, including the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Doula Project and Midwest Access Coalition. Five other organizations that had applied for funds for mental health and parental support were not blocked from receiving the financial assistance.
In a statement Saturday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office said ºüÀêÊÓƵ had “attempted to illegally use taxpayer funds to pay for abortions.â€
“[Friday] was a momentous day for women and their unborn children as Missouri courts upheld state law standing for the sanctity of life,†Bailey said in a statement. “As long as I’m attorney general, my office will continue to use every tool at its disposal to protect the unborn. Our children are worth the fight.â€
Also Friday in a separate ruling, Sengheiser dismissed some claims from a January lawsuit filed by over a dozen faith leaders but declined to grant the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit’s main argument challenging Missouri’s total abortion ban.
The clergy argue Missouri’s abortion ban violates the separation of church and state protected by the Missouri Constitution. The Jewish and Protestant clergy from ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Kansas City and Columbia argued legislators’ use of overt Christian statements in its abortion ban forced them to “to support and adhere to that officially favored religion and system of religious beliefs.â€
The clergy partnered with the Ìý²¹²Ô»åÌý in drafting the suit.
Sengheiser’s Friday ruling threw out the claims dealing with abortion regulations that are moot now that the total ban is in effect. But he denied the state’s motion to dismiss the portions of the suit dealing with the total ban and medication abortion restrictions.
“We largely prevailed and can proceed to litigate our case against the total ban and medication abortion restrictions currently in effect,†Americans United said in a statement. “This is a win for abortion rights, religious freedom and church-state separation.â€
The clergy’s lawsuit also named several prosecuting attorneys in Missouri, seeking to prevent them from enforcing the state’s abortion restrictions. Sengheiser granted a motion to dismiss filed by some of the prosecutors.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that the clergy groups’ lawsuit challenging Missouri’s total abortion ban and medication abortion restrictions can proceed. An earlier version indicated the entire lawsuit had been dismissed.