Boone, Greene county prosecutors among those dismissed from abortion rights case
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A group of Missouri faith leaders, including one from Boone County, are seeking to have Missouri's various abortion restrictions overturned through a lawsuit filed in January.
The suit, which names Gov. Mike Parson, Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a group of county prosecuting attorneys and other state leaders, was amended in March seeking an injunction against the state's abortion ban.
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An order issued Friday dismissed a number of defendants from the case for lack of standing, including Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson, Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson, Jasper County Prosecutor Theresa Kenney and St. Charles County Prosecutor Joe McCulloch. The case continues against Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabriel Gore, the State of Missouri, Gov. Parson and Attorney General Bailey.
Johnson, Patterson, Kenney and McCulloch had filed motions to dismiss.
Lawsuit alleges state religion, health impacts on plaintiff
The novel way in which the group of faith leaders seeks to overturn the abortion ban includes the argument that statements made by lawmakers established a state religion in violation of the Missouri Constitution.
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When lawmakers passed abortion ban legislation — the trigger law passed in 2019, in particular — they cited their purpose was for religious reasons, rather than some previous arguments that referred to protecting women, the group of clergy wrote in their amended complaint from March.
Fourteen Jewish and protestant Christian leaders are among those who have sued the state. They are being represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the National Women’s Law Center and the law firm Arnold and Porter. Americans United shared a copy of the March complaint with the media.
Of the 14 plaintiffs, one still potentially could have children and is most directly affected by the state's abortion ban. That is the Rev. Molly Housh Gordon of Columbia's Unitarian Universalist Church. Along with her faith, she has other serious health care concerns that are potentially life-threatening if she was to unintentionally become pregnant again, the complaint notes.
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"As part of her faith tradition, her family and her church raised her to be explicitly pro-choice. Personal conscience is the bedrock principle governing her Unitarian Universalist ministry and practice," the complaint reads, in part. "... Gordon suffers auto-inflammatory issues that cause muscle fasciculations throughout her body, followed closely by muscle fatigue, joint pain, and total body fatigue. For fourteen years, these symptoms have been persistent and chronic, with no signs of improvement."
Her two previous pregnancies exacerbated the issue, including a flare-up so severe during her second pregnancy and postpartum care, she had to have an MRI, among other tests resulting in no clear diagnosis, the complaint noted. Her immune system over-activates, leading to joint pain, muscle weakness and even development of new food allergies.
Because of the autoimmune inflammation and size of her uterus, Housh Gordon cannot use medicinal or intrauterine forms of birth control, instead relying on condoms.
"In light of this history, and given the high likelihood of severe, pregnancy-related complications, Rev. Gordon would seek abortion care if she became pregnant unintentionally," the complaint read.
Explaining the partial dismissal
In the order issued Friday, St. Louis Circuit Judge Jason Sengheiser found a few issues with the clergy's arguments against the four prosecutors who filed for dismissal.
The judge noted the clergy who filed the lawsuit are not at risk of being prosecuted for performing or inducing an abortion; a person who receives an abortion is not subject to criminal liability under the law; and the prosecutors were not those who enacted the law and they haven't enforced the law against any of the clergy who joined the lawsuit.
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"If anything, (the responding prosecutors) could only indirectly violate the rights of Petitioners through the potential to enforce or actual enforcement of the Challenged Provisions by Respondent Prosecutors against doctors or medical professionals. Such an injury is not sufficient for injunctive relief," Sengheiser wrote.
The potential danger to Housh Gordon's life cited in the lawsuit also would be indirectly caused by prosecutors enforcing the abortion ban criminal provisions against abortion providers, he added.
"Such personal injuries to (the group of clergy) and Housh Gordon provide insufficient bases for the court to (prevent) enforcement of a criminal statute," he wrote.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Four Missouri prosecutors dismissed from abortion rights case
