The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld the state’s 24-hour waiting period for abortions, a decision that turns the focus of the legal battle to federal court.

AP has more:

The unanimous ruling Tuesday by Missouri’s highest court focused on whether the 2003 law ran contrary to the state constitution. The judges rejected arguments that it was overly vague and deprived people of liberty and privacy rights.

“It’s a victory for the women of Missouri who find themselves in a crisis pregnancy but need the information and time to consider what’s best for them,” said Patty Skain, executive director of Missouri Right to Life.

Although considered a victory for anti-abortion groups, the ruling may not be the end of the matter. That’s because Planned Parenthood affiliates, which filed the state case, also have challenged the law in federal court.

Last year, a federal judge allowed the 24-hour wait to take effect but issued a preliminary injunction against the law’s language describing what physicians must discuss with patients. That injunction is to expire 10 days after the state Supreme Court decision is made final.

Planned Parenthood officials plan to decide soon whether to continue pursuing the federal case, said Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood for Kansas and Mid-Missouri.

The Missouri law requires physicians to wait 24 hours after conferring with women before performing abortions. It requires that consultation to cover such things as the “physical, psychological and situational” risk factors associated with abortions.

Twenty-four states require women to wait a specified amount of time _ most often 24 hours _ between counseling and the abortion procedure, according to The Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues.

Planned Parenthood claims the consultation requirements are so vague they place physicians under the threat of prosecution for something they may not understand.

But the Missouri Supreme Court said that the law places no further duty on abortion physicians than they already have under common law, and that the 24-hour waiting provision did not violate the state constitution.

“There is no reason to construe the language in the Missouri constitution more broadly than the corresponding language of the federal Constitution, and the United States Supreme Court already has determined that such a waiting provision does not violate the federal Constitution,” the court wrote.

Violators of Missouri’s abortion consent law can face the loss of their medical licenses and misdemeanor charges punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The ruling is the latest blow to abortion rights supporters.

A Mississippi House committee voted Tuesday to ban most abortions in the state. The only abortions allowed under the bill would be if the life of the pregnant woman were in danger.

It’s similar to a bill that South Dakota lawmakers passed last week that would make it a crime for doctors to perform abortions in the state except to save a pregnant woman’s life. The bill went to Republican Gov. Mike Rounds on Tuesday, and he has 15 days to act. Rounds has said he’s inclined to sign the bill into law.

And in Kentucky, legislation requiring women to receive face-to-face counseling before undergoing abortions was passed by the Senate on Tuesday, an effort to end the practice of some clinics to use recorded messages over the telephone.