May 28, 2019 01:52 PM UTC

Closing: The Last Abortion Clinic In Missouri

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• by: Colorado Pols

CBS News reports as the wholesale rollback of abortion rights in conservative states gains momentum, this time with the state of Missouri facing the possible cutoff of abortion services at the state’s last clinic:

The last remaining abortion clinic in Missouri says it expects to be shut down this week, effectively ending legal abortion in the state.

In a statement Tuesday, Planned Parenthood said Missouri’s health department is “refusing to renew” its annual license to provide abortion in the state. If the license is not renewed by May 31, Missouri would become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since 1973 when Roe v. Wade was decided…

“This is not a drill. This is not a warning. This is a real public health crisis,” said Dr. Leana Wen, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Lisa Cox, a spokesperson for The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, told CBS News on Tuesday morning via email that Planned Parenthood’s license was “under review,” and did not respond to additional questions.

The possible administrative shutdown of Missouri’s only abortion clinic comes just after a new law imposing an arbitrary eight-week limit for abortion procedures in the state–a law made to be challenged in court like Alabama’s new abortion ban, setting up a potential legal vehicle for the overturning of Roe v. Wade before a solidifying conservative U.S. Supreme Court. The lack of any functioning abortion clinic in the state would not render that challenge moot, but it underscores the political determination of Missouri Republicans to curtail abortion rights by any available means.

And we’ll say it again–if Colorado Republicans ever regain a majority, this is their agenda too. As long as their name isn’t Cory Gardner, they’ll have no problem telling you so.