A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Wednesday upheld a 2017 Texas statute outlawing an abortion procedure typically used to end second-trimester pregnancies.

A majority of the judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hold appellate jurisdiction over district courts across Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama, ruled this week in favor of backing the statute that blocks certain procedures without ensuring whether the fetus is still alive. The ruling stems from a legal battle between several pro-abortion plaintiffs and defendants such as Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others who favored the law.