A federal judge on Saturday issued a narrow order blocking enforcement of a newly-enacted Colorado law that cracks down on treatments to purportedly reverse medication-induced abortions.

On April 14, Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 190 as part of a package of measures bolstering reproductive rights in the state. SB 190 subjects licensed medical providers to professional discipline if they prescribe or administer treatments to reverse a patient’s medication abortion.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has concluded the treatments are “not based on science and do not meet clinical standards.”

However, just after midnight on April 15, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico signed a temporary restraining order at the request of faith-based clinic Bella Health and Wellness. Domenico, a Donald Trump appointee, rejected Bella Health’s goal of blocking enforcement of SB 190 categorically. Instead, his order will only prevent the state from enforcing the law against Bella Health for 14 days as the case unfolds.

Domenico believed Englewood-based Bella Health had credibly alleged SB 190 violated its First Amendment rights, while at the same time acknowledging Colorado and its residents “certainly have an interest in preventing deceptive trade practices and provision of medical treatments that are outside generally accepted standards of practice.”

Ultimately, Domenico credited Bella Health’s allegations that it is currently giving the abortion-reversal treatment progesterone to at least one patient, who “may have their care interrupted absent immediate injunctive relief.”

Medication abortion accounts for just over half of all abortions nationwide. Mifepristone, the drug predominantly used in medication abortion, is currently subject to competing rulings from federal judges about the legality of its approval. A judge in Washington has ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to maintain access to mifepristone in Colorado.

The dispensation of abortion-reversal medication is based on the notion that progesterone can stop a medication-based abortion after a patient has taken the mifepristone, but has not yet taken the second-step drug, misoprostol. SB 190 requires the state medical, nursing and pharmacy boards to evaluate the practice of abortion reversal by Oct. 1. If the boards all agree that it is a valid medical practice, then it will be considered professional conduct. If not, it will be labeled unprofessional conduct.

“We should not allow these unproven therapies to trick people into believing they are getting something that they are absolutely not getting,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Karen McCormick, D-Longmont.

Bella Health wrote in its motion that the law “targets women” by “forcing them to undergo abortions they seek to avoid.” Helping pregnant people avoid unwanted abortions is a “religious obligation,” argued the clinic’s lawyers.

“Colorado has violated the Free Speech Clause by censoring speech about progesterone and preventing women from even learning about their options,” they wrote, also alleging SB 190 violates a woman’s constitutional right to make her own reproductive decisions.

Last year, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled the Constitution “makes no reference to abortion” and any policymaking surrounding abortion access is returned to “the people’s elected representatives.”

The state has not yet responded to Bella Health’s lawsuit. Domenico has set a hearing for April 24, where he will consider whether to grant Bella Health a preliminary injunction blocking SB 190 for a longer duration as the lawsuit proceeds in the trial court.

Colorado Politics reporter Hannah Metzger contributed to this article.