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Missouri health officials on Friday refused to renew the license of the state's only abortion clinic, but the facility will remain open for now as a judge left in place an injunction blocking its closure. At a brief state circuit court hearing on Friday, Judge Michael Stelzer said it might be days before the court would come to a decision on whether the state could shut its only abortion clinic, which is operated by women's healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood. (Langellier, 6/21)

In a news conference Friday, health department director Randall Williams said the agency denied the clinic’s application because they have corrected only four of the 30 deficiencies that inspectors identified. He again cited concerns over multiple “failed abortions," which required additional procedures, and a patient who suffered life-threatening complications. The issues have been central to the state’s case against Planned Parenthood. (Thebault, 6/21)

But the St. Louis clinic will stay open, at least temporarily, under a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Michael Stelzer last month. Planned Parenthood sued the state in May for making the renewal of its abortion license conditional on interviews with the clinic's doctors as part of an investigation. Planned Parenthood said the doctors were residents, not employees of the clinic and could not be compelled to do interviews. (Hellmann, 6/21)

Earlier this month, Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer set a June 21 deadline for the state’s health department to decide whether to renew the clinic’s license. With the department’s decision Friday, the judge must now weigh next steps. At the hearing, Judge Stelzer said he would issue at least one more order on the case, taking into account the state’s decision not to renew the license. “I can’t imagine that injunction can stand for too long,” said Rigel Oliveri, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. “That’s a tough spot for the court to be in, ordering a medical facility to be open when it’s been ordered to be closed for patient safety reasons.” (Calfas, 6/21)

A spokeswoman for the St. Louis facility said the license issue would impact only part of the clinic, meaning that even if abortion services were to end, other gynecological and reproductive health services would continue. Critics of the state's decision not to renew the license say top officials in Missouri are using the state regulatory process as a means of pursuing an anti-abortion-access political agenda. (Allyn, 6/21)