Ban or Regulation: Missouri Abortion Law Hinges on Contrast (1)

The fate of a Missouri’s abortion restriction depends on whether judges view it as a “ban” or merely a “regulation.”

A highly restrictive Texas abortion law may be getting most of the country’s attention at the moment, but an argument Tuesday in the Eighth Circuit over the validity of the Missouri statute presented another opportunity to gauge judicial attitudes about the controversial procedure.

The judges latched onto the distinction: If it’s a ban, then it would be prohibited under the rule that a state can’t legally stop women from terminating previability pregnancies, as held by the lower court.

But if ...