There’s only one abortion facility left in the state of Missouri. And because of a dust-up with state health officials over unsafe practices there, that facility has stopped performing surgical abortions. That makes Missouri the first state in the union in which surgical abortions are unavailable.

This is worth celebrating. Unborn children in Missouri are now safer than they’ve been in nearly four decades. But as another recent report from WORLD Magazine showed, while surgical abortions are down nationwide, medical abortions continue to rise. 

That’s been especially true during the pandemic. Several months ago, the FDA eased its regulations around the abortion drug so that women didn’t even have to see a doctor in person to obtain it. Thankfully, the Supreme Court last week reinstated those regulations.

Still, the work continues. Our goal must continue to be not just making abortion illegal or unavailable, but unthinkable.