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October 29, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Alabama’s ban on virtually all abortions will not take effect on November 15 as planned, thanks to a preliminary injunction issued Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson.

In May, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, which criminalizes abortion for any reason other than to “avert (a mother’s) death or to avert serious risk of substantial physical impairment of a major bodily function,” or “if a second physician who is licensed in Alabama as a psychiatrist” diagnoses a “serious mental illness” with a “reasonable medical judgment that she will engage in conduct that could result in her death or the death of her unborn child.” 

Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates and the state chapter of the left-wing American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) went to court to stop the law, and Thompson issued a temporary block on its enforcement on Tuesday, AL.com reports.

“The court is persuaded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the Act violates an individual’s constitutional right to obtain a pre-viability abortion, and thus that it violates her constitutional rights,” he wrote.

Spokesmen for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU hailed the ruling as a victory against a law they claim is “unconstitutional” because it bans abortion far earlier than Roe v. Wade’s “viability” cutoff. But the heartbeat law’s supporters welcomed the ruling as part of a broader pro-life strategy, as well.

“Our law was designed to overturn Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court level, and today’s ruling is merely the first of many steps on that legal journey,” Republican state Rep. Terri Collins said in a statement. “I remain confident that our mission will be successful and appreciate the support of millions of citizens who support our effort to preserve unborn life.”

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has already declared that he intends to take the case to the Supreme Court.