North Dakota’s highest court has ruled that the state’s overturned abortion ban will not be enforced during an appeal of a judge’s ruling that struck down the law in September.

The North Dakota Supreme Court on Friday declined to reinstate a near-total abortion ban as the state’s appeal proceeds. In a Friday majority opinion by Justice Daniel Crothers, the court appeared skeptical of several of the state’s core arguments defending the law,

While a lawsuit against the state's ban on abortion takes place, the procedure will remain legal in hospital settings only for live-saving measures.