The measure, which was signed into law on Friday by the state’s Republican governor, Matt Bevin, and was set to take effect immediately, was poised to become one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country.
But late on Friday, the judge, David J. Hale of the Western District of Kentucky, ruled the law was potentially unconstitutional. He halted enforcement for at least 14 days to “prevent irreparable harm” until he could hold a hearing.
The ruling came amid a yearslong effort to curb abortions in Kentucky, which has one remaining abortion clinic. Several other states are considering similar measures, known as heartbeat bills, as states move to restrict — or shore up access to — abortion in anticipation of a more conservative Supreme Court possibly ruling on the issue.
The Kentucky law was one of two measures seeking to restrict abortion that were passed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature this week but are now being contested. The other, a bill that prohibits abortion if a woman wants to end her pregnancy because of the diagnosis of a disability in the fetus, among other reasons, is awaiting approval from the governor.
The American Civil Liberties Union challenged both measures in a lawsuit filed this week on behalf of EMW Women’s Surgical Center, the state’s only licensed abortion clinic.
“We think this is a very straightforward legal issue,” Brigitte Amiri, deputy director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, said Saturday. “States can’t ban abortion. It has been well settled over 40 years ago in Roe v. Wade.”
The judge on Friday did not address the second bill and Amiri said the group planned to ask the judge for a ruling on it after it was signed into law.
Representatives from Bevin’s office could not be reached for comment Saturday. The governor has made anti-abortion legislation a priority of his administration and has welcomed the chance to fight for protections in court.
Amiri said the fetal heartbeat bill would effectively eliminate abortion in Kentucky. About 90 percent of abortions in the state are performed after six weeks, according to the lawsuit.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.