Planned Parenthood begins offering in-clinic abortions in Springfield

By Anna Spoerre 

Missouri Independent

Abortion access in Missouri continues to expand under the constitutional amendment voters approved in 2024 — less than three months before they’ll be asked to undo it.

The latest expansion is in Springfield, where Planned Parenthood began offering in-clinic procedural abortions Thursday. Just a few weeks earlier the clinic began prescribing abortion medication, returning abortion access to the Missouri Ozarks for the first time in 21 years.

The Springfield clinic will offer procedural abortions up to 12 weeks into pregnancy, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers said in a press release. 

Krissy Durant, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, which operates the clinic, said appointments are already fully booked for this week. For now, the clinic will offer both medication and procedural abortion appointments every couple of weeks, she said, but that is subject to change as clinic staff work out a longer-term schedule.

Prior to July, Missourians in the area had to drive hours to reach a Planned Parenthood clinic where they could end a pregnancy. Reproductive rights advocates point to limited paid time off, childcare access and lack of transportation as barriers to accessing abortion outside a person’s hometown.

“After decades without abortion care nearby, we have seen patients right here in Springfield, and they are relieved to find the care they need within reach of where they live,” Dr. Margaret Baum, chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, said in a statement. “We know abortion care is on the line in Missouri, and that’s exactly why we are expanding. We won’t back down. We are standing proudly in solidarity with our patients who want, who need, and who voted for access to abortion care.”

The Springfield clinic is the fourth Planned Parenthood in the state to offer in-clinic procedures after Missourians passed a constitutional amendment in 2024 protecting abortion up to the point of fetal viability. Planned Parenthood clinics in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis restarted procedural abortions in 2025. 

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All four clinics, along with the Planned Parenthood in Gladstone, offer medication abortion following a June court ruling that struck down dozens of abortion regulations challenged under the 2024 amendment.

The judge in that case upheld only a few of the challenged abortion regulations, including a requirement that patients meet with a doctor in-person before being prescribed medication abortion and a requirement that only physicians can perform abortions. Durant said these laws affect Planned Parenthood’s ability to offer more appointments at this time.

Planned Parenthood officials have advocated for patients’ ability to choose which abortion method is best for them. 

Medication abortion is the most common method for ending a pregnancy in the U.S. It typically involves taking mifepristone — which in Missouri must be administered at a clinic — followed later by misoprostol. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the regimen for use through 10 weeks of pregnancy. 

Procedural abortions, which can be performed later in pregnancy, take place in-clinic using various methods and are completed much faster than medication abortion.

This November, Missouri voters will decide whether they want to reinstate an abortion ban. The proposed constitutional amendment, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 3, would ban the procedure with limited exceptions for survivors of rape and incest and for medical emergencies. It would also write a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, already prohibited under state law, into the state constitution.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.