Missouri is asking a federal appellate court to put on hold a judge's order blocking the state's abortion-restricting rules, insisting the requirements are justified.
The state's challenge Thursday to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came a day after U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs refused to delay enforcing the preliminary injunction he issued last month in favor of Planned Parenthood affiliates with Missouri health centers.
The restrictions have required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and that clinics meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery.
A Planned Parenthood center in St. Louis is the only licensed abortion provider in the state, partly because of the restrictions. Planned Parenthood has said its sites in Kansas City, Columbia, Joplin and Springfield would provide abortions without the restrictions.
