The Supreme Court rejected a challenge from the National Pork Producers Council against a California animal welfare law in a ruling released Thursday.

The court ruled that the National Pork Producers were asking the court to "fashion two new and more aggressive constitutional restrictions" on the states' abilities to regulate goods sold within their borders.

SENATE LEADERS PLAY DEBT CEILING BLAME GAME WHILE AIDES NEGOTIATE BEHIND THE SCENES

California's animal welfare law, Proposition 12, blocks sales of pork, eggs, and veal in the state from farms that do not meet minimum space requirements for the animals.

The National Pork Producers sued in 2019, arguing that Proposition 12 violated the Constitution's commerce clause and could impede interstate free trade, as they perceived that the law dictated how farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, and other states produce pork.

However, Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the majority opinion, said the California law does not "discriminate purposefully" against out-of-state economic interests.

"They invite us to fashion two new and more aggressive constitutional restrictions on the ability of States to regulate goods sold within their borders. We decline that invitation," Gorsuch wrote.

"While the Constitution addresses many weighty issues, the type of pork chops California merchants may sell is not on that list," the justice continued.

The fractured ruling was divided along nonideological lines, with justices grouping together to write their own opinions. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined together to concur in part, Justice Amy Coney Barrett concurred in part, and Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined together in an opinion dissenting in part.

The Humane Society of the United States released a statement following the Supreme Court's ruling, saying it was "delighted" the court upheld Proposition 12.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The ruling "made clear that preventing animal cruelty and protecting public health are core functions of our state governments," Kitty Block, the Humane Society's president and CEO, said.

"We won’t stop fighting until the pork industry ends its cruel, reckless practice of confining mother pigs in cages so small they can’t even turn around," Block said.