INDIANAPOLIS, IND. (WOWO) Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has appealed a Marion County judge’s ruling that blocked the state’s near-total abortion ban for a select group of residents, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Judge Christina R. Klineman ruled Thursday that the law imposes a substantial burden on religious exercise under the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The case was originally filed three years ago by several anonymous plaintiffs and Hoosier Jews for Choice, who argued that their faith requires access to abortion in certain circumstances.

“This permanent injunction is meant simply to capture those rare instances where an abortion does not fall within the enumerated exceptions but is likewise a necessary religious exercise,” the judge said. The injunction now applies to others in Indiana whose religious beliefs call for an abortion.

Stevie Pactor, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Indiana, said the ruling protects individuals of diverse faiths. “For more than three years, our clients have challenged a law that forces them to choose between their faith and their autonomy. This decision makes it clear that Indiana cannot enforce its abortion ban in ways that violate their religious freedom,” Pactor said, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Indiana Right to Life President Mike Fichter praised the Attorney General’s decision to appeal. “For the court to rule that taking the life of an unborn child is an exercise of religious freedom is deeply distressing,” he said. Fichter argued that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was never intended to justify abortion and warned the injunction could be broadly interpreted if upheld.

The case will next be considered by the Indiana Court of Appeals, where arguments on the appeal are expected to determine whether the state’s abortion restrictions can be enforced against individuals citing religious reasons, according to the Indianapolis Star.