Officials in Texas have won a federal appeal to temporarily reinstate its controversial abortion law - just one day after clinics across the US state resumed services for the first time since early September.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration had successfully temporarily blocked the law, known as Senate Bill 8, but the 5th US Court of Appeals overturned the decision late on Friday evening, AP News reports.
Soon after a federal judge enforced the block, the state immediately appealed the decision, Reuters reports.
The controversial new legislation which bans abortions after six weeks in Texas took effect after the Supreme Court's inaction.
In a statement following the latest ruling, Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, called on the Supreme Court to "step in and stop this madness".
"Patients are being thrown back into a state of chaos and fear, and this cruel law is falling hardest on those who already face discriminatory obstacles in health care, especially Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, undocumented immigrants, young people, those struggling to make ends meet, and those in rural areas," she said, per BBC News.
"The courts have an obligation to block laws that violate fundamental rights."
"Great news tonight," Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted. "I will fight federal overreach at every turn."
Discover more about the law below:
The dispute over the law could ultimately end up before the US Supreme Court, which in September declined to hear an emergency case filed in a last-minute bid to prevent the ban passing into law.
Several clinics in Texas had resumed providing abortions to patients who were beyond the six-week limit following Wednesday's order.
The controversial legislation means that abortion after six weeks is illegal in the state - which is before many people even know they are pregnant, CNN reports.
Private lawsuits can therefore be brought against any pregnant person seeking to have an abortion after six weeks.
This amounts to a near-total ban on abortions and has no provision for victims of rape or incest.