Judge's ruling overturns Missouri's near-total abortion ban

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Weeks after Missourians voted in favor of reproductive rights for Missouri women, a Jackson County judge blocked Missouri's near-total abortion ban, citing voters approval of Amendment 3.

That vote enshrined reproductive rights into the Missouri Constitution, but did not "on its own," overturn Missouri's law triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Planned Parenthood was among those who filed suit to enforce Amendment 3.

Among other state laws and regulations invalidated in the ruling, any abortion ban before 20 weeks of pregnancy, the state's 72-hour waiting period and a ban on telehealth abortion services.

The court did leave in place a requirement that an in-person physician visit is required in order to obtain a federally approved abortion bill within 10 weeks.

The ruling means the state regulation of abortions faces a much higher scrutiny before a fetus is deemed viable, or could live outside the womb.