We knew this case against Planned Parenthood would be vital for babies and women. That’s why we labeled it the “Trial of the Century.” What we never anticipated was how fully it would expose the moral rot at the heart of the abortion giant.
In open court, the organization’s mask came off.
According to our team in the courtroom, Planned Parenthood’s expert – Dr. Steven Ralston, a maternal fetal medicine “doctor” – testified that infants likely do not feel pain because, in his words, they are not “conscious beings.”
Ralston stated: “I don’t know that [a one-year-old experiences pain] because I don’t know that a one-year-old experiences consciousness.” Ralston also could not tell the court when consciousness begins, stating: “I think it’s different for different individuals.”
Allow that depravity to sink in.
To defend abortion at all costs, the industry was willing to cast doubt on whether even babies feel pain. This testimony didn’t just shock the courtroom – it revealed the extreme, dehumanizing logic required to justify abortion on demand.
Take action with the ACLJ and add your name to the petition: Stop Planned Parenthood’s Nationwide War on Babies.
The “Trial of the Century” recently wrapped up in a Jackson County, Missouri, courthouse. The case pitted Planned Parenthood against the state of Missouri. The ACLJ stood alongside the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to defend Missouri women and their unborn children in a case that strikes at the heart of whether states can enforce basic medical and safety standards for abortion providers. The outcome of this trial has enormous implications – not just for Missouri, but for the protection of women and unborn children nationwide.
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Planned Parenthood sued the state of Missouri after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which pushed regulatory authority back to the states. Missouri enacted a “trigger law” banning all abortions, which took effect when Roe was overturned. Then, in November 2024, the voters of Missouri voted the “Reproductive Freedom Initiative” into the Missouri Constitution. What is now Article 1, Section 36 of the Missouri Constitution is what Planned Parenthood sued under in this challenge.
Within one day of the constitutional amendment becoming law, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU filed a sweeping lawsuit challenging dozens of statutes and health and safety regulations for abortion providers.
Planned Parenthood challenged the following:
- Information women are required to be given prior to obtaining an abortion
- A 72-hour waiting period to ensure decisional certainty
- In-person visits with the same provider at initial visit and surgical procedure
- Doctors being the sole provider of abortions
- Complication plans approved by the state for medication abortion patients
- A 21-year tail insurance policy for abortion providers for survivors of abortions to sue for abortion related injuries
- Admitting privileges at hospitals by abortion clinics for abortion providers
- Licensing for abortion facilities similar to urgent care facilities
- No abortions post-viability; a prohibition against interfering with EMT or ambulances reaching a patient in distress at an abortion facility
- A “reasons ban,” which prohibited abortion based on sex, race, or disability of the unborn baby. This is not an exhaustive list of what Planned Parenthood seeks to invalidate in the state of Missouri.
Planned Parenthood’s petition can be found here.
The widespread and nonsensical nature of this legal challenge is why the ACLJ joined this fight to protect Missouri women from substandard and inadequate medical practices. The abortion industry – driven by endless funds from Planned Parenthood for America and free legal work from the country’s top firms – must be held accountable.
What Happened at Trial
Throughout the proceedings, the court heard extensive testimony and legal arguments addressing whether Missouri’s laws are legitimate health protections or, as Planned Parenthood claims, unconstitutional restrictions.
Planned Parenthood claimed to speak for Missouri’s women. But in the week Planned Parenthood presented their case, not one Missouri woman testified in favor of striking down these laws. Instead, Planned Parenthood’s witnesses were their own doctors, clinic staff, lobbyists, and “experts” who opined on radical and dangerous ideological stances based on pseudoscience.
Among the testimony:
- State inspectors testified to unsanitary conditions, including moldy equipment and improper sterilization.
- Dr. Ralston testified that infants and toddlers likely do not feel pain because they are not “conscious beings.” Dr. Ralston also testified that viability is only known if the baby lives or dies, specifically “if it dies, then it was not a viable pregnancy.”
- Planned Parenthood Great Rivers and Great Rivers Action representative Margot Riphagen testified that she enjoyed working for an organization that “pushed the envelope” on challenging abortion restrictions.
- Attorneys (paid for by Planned Parenthood for America) argued that no witness was qualified to speak on abortion safety unless the witness had performed abortions.
- Planned Parenthood “expert” Dr. Daniel Grossman, an OBGYN, testified that there is no mental health impact on women who have had abortions.
- Clinic staff conceded that babies do survive abortions. But Planned Parenthood representatives testified that insurance covering survivors’ physical or psychological injuries in lawsuits against the abortion provider is unnecessary because it’s burdensome on the provider.
- Planned Parenthood tried to ignore the tragic circumstances at their own clinics, where women were injured to the point of hysterectomies by redundantly parroting the phrase “Abortion is very safe.”
- On issues pertaining to abortion facility licenses, the type of provider performing the abortion, or informed consent practices, Planned Parenthood’s approach was “Trust us, it’ll be fine.”
At trial, the state of Missouri, supported by the ACLJ, presented powerful testimony from women who suffered devastating physical and psychological consequences after abortions – including suicidal ideation, perforated uteruses, hysterectomies, rotting retained tissue, and severe complications from medication abortions. Some women testified they were pressured or coerced into ending their pregnancies.
Psychologists warned that women face significant mental health risks and that withholding full information about abortion’s dangers undermines true informed consent. Medical ethicists stressed the necessity of ultrasounds and written disclosures, so women fully understand their decisions.
Missouri doctors described treating serious abortion-related complications and struggling to obtain critical information from abortion providers during emergencies. Health inspectors testified to unsanitary conditions in certain facilities, including moldy equipment and improper sterilization.
Throughout the trial, the state stood with and for Missouri women.
This case is far from over. Post-trial proceedings will not conclude for several months. If Planned Parenthood succeeds, the consequences could reach far beyond Missouri. A ruling in its favor could weaken states’ ability to enforce medical licensing laws and health standards for abortion providers nationwide. But if Missouri prevails, it will affirm that abortion providers cannot operate without oversight and must comply with the same safety requirements relevant to the services they provide.
The ACLJ is proud to stand alongside Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway in this landmark case. Our legal team remains committed to defending pro-life laws, protecting women from unsafe medical practices, and ensuring that the abortion industry is not allowed to operate above the law.
Recently, the ACLJ has filed in several pro-life cases around the country, including the case where Planned Parenthood dropped its lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s removal of federal funding for abortion. We will continue this fight.
The stakes of this case are enormous, and the outcome will help shape how states nationwide can ensure women’s safety.
Take action with us today as we battle Planned Parenthood state by state and add your name to the petition: Stop Planned Parenthood’s Nationwide War on Babies.
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