Hearing Thursday in religious leaders' lawsuit challenging Missouri abortion ban

A St. Louis judge will hear arguments in a lawsuit challenging Missouri’s abortion ban on the grounds that lawmakers who passed the measure imposed their own religious beliefs on others who don’t share them. The lawsuit, which goes before a judge Thursday, was filed in January on behalf of 13 Christian, Jewish and Unitarian Universalist leaders who support abortion rights. It seeks a permanent injunction barring the state from enforcing its abortion law, and a declaration that provisions of it violate the Missouri Constitution. It's among more than three dozen lawsuits filed in 23 states challenging restrictive abortion laws enacted by conservative states after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The landmark 2022 ruling left abortion rights up to each state to decide.