Judy Doe v. Parson

368 F. Supp. 3d 1345
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedFebruary 21, 2019
DocketNo. 4:18CV339 HEA
StatusPublished

This text of 368 F. Supp. 3d 1345 (Judy Doe v. Parson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Judy Doe v. Parson, 368 F. Supp. 3d 1345 (E.D. Mo. 2019).

Opinion

HENRY EDWARD AUTREY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter seeking declarative and injunctive relief comes before the Court on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint for failure to state a claim, [Doc. No. 17]. Plaintiffs seek (1) declaratory judgment that certain Missouri Statutes are void and (2) injunctive relief against Defendants' enforcement of the statutes. For the reasons below, Defendants' motion to dismiss will be granted.

Facts and Background

Plaintiff's Complaint alleges the following:

Plaintiff Judy Doe ("Doe" or "Plaintiff") is a competent, adult woman who is pregnant and plans to have an abortion in St. Louis, Missouri. Doe is a Missouri citizen and a member of The Satanic Temple. Doe holds certain religious beliefs as a member of The Satanic Temple. Doe complains that Missouri's Voluntary and Informed Consent law, RSMo § 188.027.1, violates the First Amendment's Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses.

Named as defendants are the Missouri Governor and Attorney General (the "State Defendants"), as well as the Chairman, Secretary and Members of the Missouri Board of Registration of the Healing Arts (the "Board Defendants"), and John Doe I and John Doe II, two medical professionals who are licensed by the state of Missouri to deliver healthcare services in Missouri (the "Healthcare Defendants").

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.027.1(2), requires that prior to providing a woman with an abortion, the Healthcare Defendants must deliver to her a booklet prepared by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (the "Booklet"). The Booklet states, in pertinent part, "The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being" (the "Missouri Tenets").

Plaintiffs allege that the Missouri Tenets communicate the religious belief that human tissue in utero that is not viable ("Human Tissue") is, starting at conception, a unique human being with a life of its own, separate and apart from the woman whose uterus it occupies. Implicit in this belief is that the destruction of Human Tissue is morally wrong.

The Missouri Tenets are believed by some but not all people in Missouri, including without limitation members of the Catholic Church and some evangelical and fundamentalist Christian congregations.

The Booklet contains detailed descriptions and images of the anatomical and physiological characteristics of Human Tissue at two-week gestational increments from conception to full term.

*1348Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.027.1(4) requires that prior to providing a woman with an abortion, the Healthcare Defendants "shall provide the woman with the opportunity to view ... an active ultrasound of the unborn child and hear the heartbeat of the unborn child if the heartbeat is audible" (the "Ultrasound Opportunity"). The Ultrasound Opportunity must include "the dimensions of the unborn child, and accurately portray [ ] the presence of external members and internal organs, if present or viewable, of the unborn child."

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.027.1(4) requires the Healthcare Defendants to wait seventy-two hours after the Ultrasound Opportunity before providing Plaintiff with an abortion (the "72 Hour Waiting Period").

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.027.12 requires The Healthcare Defendants to wait twenty-four hours after the Ultrasound Opportunity before providing a woman with an abortion if the 72 Hour Waiting Period is enjoined by the Court (the "24 Hour Waiting Period.").

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 188.027.3 also requires a woman to certify in writing that she has received the Booklet and the Ultrasound Opportunity before she may get an abortion (the "Certification Requirement").

The Booklet, the Ultrasound Opportunity, the 72 Hour Waiting Period, the 24 Hour Waiting Period and Certification Requirement are referred to by Plaintiffs as the "Missouri Lectionary." The purpose of the Missouri Lectionary is to "inform" a woman who has decided to get an abortion that the Missouri Tenets are true.

Plaintiffs contend that the effect of the Missouri Lectionary is to:

A) Encourage Plaintiff to believe the Missouri Tenets and forgo an abortion; and
B) Compel Plaintiff to wait and consider the Missouri Tenets and Missouri Lectionary for at least three (3) days before getting the abortion; and *1349C) Cause Plaintiff doubt, guilt, and shame for getting an abortion.

The Healthcare Defendants are required by law to deliver the Missouri Lectionary to Plaintiff. The Missouri Lectionary is delivered when Plaintiff has already decided to get an abortion.

Plaintiff's religious beliefs include the following (the "Satanic Tenets"):

A) A woman's body is inviolable and subject to her will alone;
B) She makes decisions regarding her health based on the best scientific understanding of the world, even if the science does not comport with the religious or political beliefs of others;
C) Human Tissue is part of her body;
D) She alone decides whether to remove Human Tissue from her body;
E) She may, in good conscience, have Human Tissue removed from her body on demand and without regard to the current or future condition of the Human Tissue; and
F) She must not comply with any law that directly or indirectly, conditions her getting an abortion in a manner antithetical to the Satanic Tenets, including without limitation any law that serves no medical purpose or purports to protect the interests of her Human Tissue.

Plaintiff does not believe the Missouri Tenets are true. Specifically, she does not believe:

A) The life of a human being begins at conception;
B) Abortion terminates "the life of a separate, unique, living human being;" or
C) The removal of Human Tissue from a woman's body is morally wrong.

The Missouri Tenets and Missouri Lectionary are irrelevant to Plaintiff in making a decision to get an abortion because she believes Human Tissue can be removed from her body on demand and, in good conscience, without regard to the current or future condition of the Human Tissue.

Neither the Missouri Tenets nor the Missouri Lectionary is medically necessary for Plaintiff to make an informed decision to get an abortion. Women can and do routinely have safe abortions on demand throughout the country using established medical procedures and without consideration of the Missouri Tenets or the Missouri Lectionary.

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Bluebook (online)
368 F. Supp. 3d 1345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/judy-doe-v-parson-moed-2019.