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A U.S. District Court in Alabama granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday blocking an Alabama law that would have banned abortion in nearly all instances and that threatened doctors with up to 99 years in prison for performing an abortion.

The ban was passed in the last legislative session and was scheduled to take effect Nov. 15.

 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Alabama, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America brought the lawsuit on behalf of Alabama abortion care providers and their patients. Tuesday’s decision comes on the heels of decisions by other courts blocking similar bans in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio.

District Judge Myron Thompson issued the ruling that blocked the Human Life Protection Act’s from going into law, as it is challenged in the court system.

“The court is persuaded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the act violates an individual’s constitutional right tot obtain a pre-viability abortion, and thus that is violates her constitutional rights,” Thompson said in his order.

Currently there are three clinics in Alabama that provide abortions – Reproductive Health Services in Montgomery, Alabama Women’s Center in Huntsville and West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued the following statement after the ruling, “The district court’s decision to grant the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction of Alabama’s 2019 abortion law as to pre-viability abortions was not unexpected.  As we have stated before, the State’s objective is to advance our case to the U.S. Supreme Court where we intend to submit evidence that supports our argument that Roe and Casey were wrongly decided and that the Constitution does not prohibit states from protecting unborn children from abortion.”

Randall Marshall, executive director, of ACLU of Alabama responded,   “As expected, the court has blocked the law and it will not go into effect. Abortion remains legal in Alabama. The state’s repeated attempts to push abortion out of reach by enacting unconstitutional laws restricting abortions have already cost taxpayers nearly 2.5 million dollars. This ill-advised law will cost taxpayers more money.”