A federal judge in North Dakota has blocked what could have been the country’s strictest anti-abortion ban from coming into effect. The law, which was set to take effect on August 1, would have banned abortion once a fetal or embryonic heartbeat can be detected, which happens at about six weeks of pregnancy when many women do not realize they are pregnant. Monday’s order came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of the state’s only remaining abortion clinic, which is in Fargo. In his decision granting a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland called the North Dakota ban “a blatant violation of the constitutional guarantees afforded to all women.”