The unanimous ruling issued on Tuesday, the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion in the landmark Roe vs. Wade case, stopped the Missouri government and the state corrections department from restricting inmates' access to abortion.
According to the judges, Gov. Matt Blunt's policy of barring corrections officials from taking female inmates to an abortion clinic for security reasons and to save on cost violated prisoners' constitutional right to be free from "cruel and unusual punishment."
The judges also found that pregnant inmates probably would take more trips out of the prison for prenatal care, defeating state official's argument on cost, and that no alternate means of abortion for inmates are in place.
Blunt was disappointed with the decision, which conflict's with state laws prohibiting the use of tax money for abortion and state laws protecting human life.
The ruling was for an October 2005 lawsuit of a Missouri female inmate barred from undergoing abortion. The inmate eventually received an abortion and was freed in 2006.
Her lawsuit was then revised to represent all female inmates seeking elective abortions, Kansascity.com reported.
