A federal judge temporarily blocked Louisiana from enforcing the state's new abortion law, which requires doctors at clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
U.S. District Judge John deGravelles said the decision is temporary as he needs another hearing on the issue, but for the moment it cannot be enforced, The Associated Press reports.
The lawsuit against the law was brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights over doctors not being given enough time to be granted admitting privileges.
The ruling has left both sides confused as the deGravelles ruled no enforcement is allowed, but at the same time allows the abortion law to go into effect. At the very least doctors who have applied for admitting privileges are not to be penalized due to the short time frame.
Jennifer R. Miller, the CRR spokeswoman, said they are looking over the court order at the moment. "We are still analyzing the decision.
The judge said in his decision that enforcement was blocked to prevent any of the doctors from being retroactively punished for not obtaining admitting privileges in time. He noted that he didn't block the law due to clinics' lawyers not successfully proving that the law would end up shuttering most abortion clinics in the state, placing an undue burden upon women seeking abortions.
The ruling comes only a few days after a federal judge ruled Texas' abortion law was too restrictive in requiring surgery-level standards at clinics. Part of the law that remains upheld, however, are mandated admitting privileges.
Abortion supporters have called the mandates as nothing more than a sly way to outlaw abortions.