JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Supreme Court opened the door Tuesday to abortions being halted again in a tumultuous legal saga after voters struck down the state’s abortion ban last November.

The state’s top court ruled that a district judge applied the wrong standard in rulings in December and February that allowed abortions to resume in the state for the first time since they were nearly completely halted under a ban that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

In Tuesday’s two-page ruling, the court ordered Judge Jerri Zhang to vacate her earlier orders and re-evaluate the case using the standards the court laid out.

The state emphasized in their petition filed to the state Supreme Court in March that Planned Parenthood didn’t sufficiently prove women were harmed without the temporary blocks on the broad swath of laws and regulations on abortion services and providers. On the contrary, the state said Zhang’s decisions left abortion facilities “functionally unregulated” and women with “no guarantee of health and safety.”

Sam Lee, director of Campaign Life Missouri, said he was “extremely excited” by the Supreme Court order.

“This means that our pro-life laws, which include many health and safety protections for women, will remain in place,” Lee said. “How long they will remain we will have to see. But for right now, we would expect that Planned Parenthood would stop doing any abortions until the court rules otherwise.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, police arrested a suspect in a fatal shooting that happened on the streets of Westport at the start of the Memorial Day weekend.

30-year-old Marquis Ponder is facing charges related to the homicide, according to the police department.

‘We have to do better’: 3 shootings in Kansas City, Missouri over holiday weekend

Two men got into an argument outside a smoke shop Friday afternoon on Broadway Boulevard. The argument ended in gunfire, adding another homicide to this year’s count in Kansas City.

Police identified the victim as 30-year-old Levon Quinn.

There have been 63 homicides in the first five months of 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri.

“This is Westport, this is a very busy area,” KCPD Public Information Officer Alayna Gonzalez said on Friday after the shooting. “It’s very heavily traveled, there’s a lot of surveillance footage.”

That surveillance video has been going around on social media sites.

It shows a man, believed to be the 30-year-old Quinn, leaving a business, Dr. Smoke.

He got into an argument with another man. Quinn turned away to leave when the other man pulled out a gun and shot the victim.

The suspect in the video, believed to be Ponder, ran away as the victim got into his car.

Police say Quinn attempted to drive to the hospital, but he crashed into a motorcyclist along Mill Creek Parkway.

He died by the time officers got to him. The motorcyclist was reported to be okay.

“I do find it interesting that somebody would think an area that is as busy and heavily populated as [Westport] would think that an argument escalating into gunfire would even be worth a Friday evening,” Officer Gonzalez said.

Police arrested 30-year-old Ponder later Friday night, charging him in connection with the homicide.

The metro saw shootings on Saturday and Sunday, too. An argument on Troost and 56th on Saturday evening ended with one man dead and two people hospitalized. A shooting in the Crossroads on Sunday morning left one person with life-threatening injuries.

“Arguing and escalating to gun violence is completely unnecessary,” Officer Gonzalez said. “We have to do better.”

This weekend’s violence comes as KCPD is working to crackdown on crime, including illegal street racing and sideshows, in entertainment districts.

The department stated they issued 35 citations, six custodial arrests and towed six vehicles in entertainment districts like the Crossroads and Westport over Memorial Day weekend.

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KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne covers issues surrounding government accountability and solutions. Share your story with Isabella.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One person suffered life-threatening gunshot wounds early Sunday morning in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kansas City, Missouri, police officers working off-duty heard several gunshots in the area of East 18th and Oak streets.

They found the shooting victim, and he was taken to a hospital.

No arrests have been made.

Detectives are investigating what led to the violence

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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.