The Indiana Supreme Court upheld the state’s near-total abortion ban on Friday, overturning the preliminary injunction that has blocked the legislation since September.

Justice Derek Molter wrote for the 3-2 majority, saying that Indiana’s constitution “protects a woman’s right to an abortion that is necessary to protect her life or to protect her from a serious health risk, but the General Assembly otherwise retains broad legislative discretion for determining whether and the extent to which to prohibit abortions.”

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Passed in August 2022, the ban prohibits abortion except in the case of fatal fetal anomaly, serious maternal health risk, or rape. The prior 20-week gestation standard for abortion was being enforced while the law was enjoined.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed suit against the provision to block its implementation in September 2022, and a judge in Marion County declared the statute unconstitutional. Oral arguments in the case were heard by the state’s Supreme Court in January.

“Our laws have long reflected that Hoosiers, through their elected representatives, may collectively conclude that legal protections inherent in personhood commence before birth, so the State’s broad authority to protect the public’s health, welfare, and safety extends to protecting prenatal life,” Molter wrote.

The legal director for the ACLU of Indiana, Ken Falk, however, contends that the Supreme Court’s vacation of the injunction does not amount to being able to enforce the abortion ban because a second case against the legislation is still pending.

The ACLU of Indiana filed a second lawsuit in August 2022 on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice under the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Falk argues that the abortion ban violates the religious liberty of those from Jewish and other faith traditions that do not have a moral obligation against abortion.

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Although the Marion Superior Court granted a second preliminary injunction against the ban for this case, the injunction only applies to the plaintiffs involved in the case.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act-related case is scheduled for oral arguments before the Supreme Court in September.