Judge blocks Missouri's abortion-restricting rules

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction to block abortion-restricting rules in Missouri, saying he’s bound by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year striking down similar Texas guidelines.

U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs granted the injunction Wednesday, roughly two weeks after announcing in a memo he would do so.

Planned Parenthood affiliates with Missouri health centers had sought the move in suing over Missouri’s restrictions in November.

Sachs wrote his ruling would invalidate Missouri’s requirements doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, and clinics meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery.

The nation’s high court in June threw out similar Texas rules that sharply reduced the number of abortion clinics there.