A panel of three Tennessee chancery court judges ruled on Thursday that doctors in the state cannot face penalties or have their licenses taken away for performing emergency abortions.

The initial lawsuit challenging the state’s abortion ban was filed by several plaintiffs in 2023, who sought clarification from the court on the circumstances under which patients can legally receive an abortion. Tennessee’s abortion ban went into effect in 2022, allowing limited exceptions for emergency abortions aimed at saving the mother’s life or in cases where the child is not expected to survive the entirety of the pregnancy.

The Thursday ruling not only stated that doctors can perform emergency abortions without facing repercussions, but the judges also specified certain pregnancy-related conditions that would be considered exemptions, the Daily Caller reported.

“This lack of clarity is evidenced by the confusion and lack of consensus within the Tennessee medical community on the circumstances requiring necessary health- and life-saving abortion care,” the ruling stated. “The evidence presented underscores how serious, difficult, and complex these issues are and raises significant questions as to whether the medical necessity exception is sufficiently narrow to serve a compelling state interest.”

The abortion exemptions now encompass cases where the abortion is deemed inevitable, when the amniotic sac surrounding the fetus ruptures prematurely, when it is anticipated that the child will not survive and this results in the mother experiencing high blood pressure and other severe symptoms, or when it is predicted that the child will not survive, potentially leading to an infection that causes a rupture of the womb, the judges determined, according to The Associated Press.

“The Court concludes Plaintiff Patients have made the required showing of a likelihood of success on the merits of their constitutional right to life challenge to the Medical Necessity Exception, at least to the extent of the maternal medical conditions the parties agree should come within the Medical Necessity Exception for purpose of temporary injunctive relief,” the ruling noted.

The group of plaintiffs includes several women who argued in the original suit filed in September 2023 that the ban jeopardizes the lives of pregnant women. Tennessee’s abortion ban also prohibited clinics from referring individuals to out-of-state facilities for abortions or providing abortion services that violate the law.