A federal judge on Friday blocked a new law in Arkansas that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright granted an injunction to delay the implementation of the law until the legal challenge to the law is tried in court. She said the law, one of the most restrictive in the country, was "more than likely" unconstitutional.

To prevent the law from taking effect in August, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the state medical board in April on behalf of two abortion providers there.

"Today's decision ensures that the women of Arkansas will remain protected from this blatant unconstitutional assault on their health and fundamental reproductive rights," Nancy Northup, chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights, told media. "Such an extreme ban on abortion would have immediate and devastating consequences for women in Arkansas, especially those who could not afford to travel out of state to access reproductive health care."

Northrop said she believes the law would ultimately be denied in trial.

The Republican-controlled legislature passed the "Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act" in March, subsequently overriding a veto by Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat.

Supporters of the law say they're still hopeful the court would allow the law to take effect. "We are disappointed that Judge Susan Webber Wright has stopped the enforcement of this very good pro-life law," Jerry Cox, president of the anti-abortion Family Council group, told media. "However, we are very hopeful that she will issue a ruling that this law is constitutional when this case is fully debated in court."

The law would ban most abortions after approximately 12 weeks of pregnancy — the point at which a fetal heartbeat may be detected by a standard ultrasound — but allows exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or when the mother's life is endangered. Physicians who break those rules would risk losing their medical licenses.

Although 11 states, including Arkansas, ban abortions abortions at the 20-week mark, North Dakota earlier this year passed a measure bans abortion after six weeks, according to Kate Bernyk, a spokesman for the center. On Wednesday, the only abortion clinic in North Dakota — the Red River Women's Clinic, in Fargo — filed a suit againt the state to stop what might be a de facto ban on abortion altogether. The North Dakota law closely resembles a recent Mississippi provision requiring abortion providers in the state to have local hospital admitting privileges. Abortion providers in both rural states commute by airplane from nearby states, and usually cannot obtain local hospital privileges.

The Center said they would file a legal challenge to the North Dakota law before its Aug. 1 implentation, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court has guaranteed a woman's right to abortion until the 24-week mark of pregnancy.