AUSTIN, Texas (NEWSnet/AP) — A Texas judge ruled Friday the state’s abortion ban has proven too restrictive for women with serious pregnancy complications and must allow exceptions without doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges.

The ruling was the first to undercut Texas’ law since it took effect in 2022.

The injunction was blocked immediately by an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, the state attorney general’s office said.

”The trial court’s injunction is ineffective, and the status quo remains in effect,” spokesperson Paige Willey said in an email.

State District Judge Jessica Mangrum's ruling granted a temporary injunction that prevents Texas from enforcing the ban against physicians who in their “good faith judgment" end a pregnancy that, because of complications, creates a risk of infection or is otherwise unsafe for the woman to continue.

The injunction also applies to women who have a condition “exacerbated by pregnancy” who can’t be effectively treated during their term. It also covers cases where the fetus has a condition that makes it unlikely to survive after birth.

The judge found portions of the abortion law violate rights afforded to pregnant women under the Texas Constitution.

The court found patients challenging the law each experienced “emergent medical conditions” during pregnancy that risked their health or lives and "required abortion care.”

However, they were delayed or denied access to such care because of widespread uncertainty about the impact on physicians, the ruling states.

Mangrum’s decision said the injunction would run until completion of the case, which is scheduled for a trial to begin March 25, 2024.

The challenge to the state law is believed to be the first brought by women who have been denied abortions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022.

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