On Monday, North Dakota’s governor, Doug Burgum, signed into law a six-week abortion ban, commonly known as a heartbeat bill.

“This bill clarifies and refines existing state law . . . and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state,” Burgum said in a statement to the Associated Press. The law does not have exceptions for rape and incest. Veto-proof majorities passed the bill in the state legislature, with the house passing it 76–14 and the senate approving it 42–5.

The move comes after Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a heartbeat bill into law earlier this month.

North Dakota’s preexisting abortion ban, a trigger law designed to go into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned, is currently blocked in court while its constitutionality is being considered.

“While the regulation of abortion is within the authority of the legislature under the North Dakota Constitution, [Red River Women’s Clinic] has demonstrated likely success on the merits that there is a fundamental right to an abortion in the limited instances of life-saving and health-preserving circumstances, and the statute is not narrowly tailored to satisfy strict scrutiny,” Chief Justice Jon J. Jensen wrote in the North Dakota supreme court’s ruling upholding the block of the ban last month.

Republican attorney general Drew Wrigley was critical of the ruling. “The North Dakota Supreme Court today chooses a path of its very own, by holding there is now also an un-defined ‘health’ exception to abortion regulation. Our Supreme Court did this without explicit support from our state Constitution, and without support from legislative enactments in our history of abortion regulation,” he wrote in a statement.

“In so doing, North Dakota’s Supreme Court appears to have taken on the role of a legislative body, a role our constitution does not afford them,” he added.

The new six-week ban is designed to go into effect immediately. Lawmakers argued that it will send a message to the state’s supreme court, signaling the desire of the people of North Dakota and its representatives to restrict abortion.

“We’re going to send another message to the North Dakota Supreme Court. This is what this Legislature wants. We want pro-life in North Dakota,” said house majority leader Mike Lefor on the floor last week.