ST. LOUIS, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- A Missouri inmate received an abortion three days after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the state's appeal of a judge's order for the procedure.
The woman, identified only as Jane Roe, was transported to a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis Thursday from the prison in Vandalia, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. She returned to the prison eight hours later.
The state Corrections Department changed regulations earlier this year to deny inmates transportation for abortions, visits to sick family members and funerals. At court hearings, lawyers representing the state argued that the rules were in line with a state law denying public funding for abortions.
A federal judge last week ordered the state to transport the woman to a clinic. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas stayed the ruling, but the high court, without comment, lifted the stay Monday.
The inmate was imprisoned for a probation violation -- traveling out of state without permission -- after completing 120 days of "shock" incarceration for methamphetamine possession.
