Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s four-member liberal wing in the majority, highlighting the pivotal position he has assumed after last year’s departure of Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy was often the swing vote in closely divided cases.

The details: The Louisiana law requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. A federal court judge struck down the law in 2017, saying it created an undue burden on women’s constitutional right to abortion. That decision was later reversed.

What’s next: The court’s action on Thursday did not end the case, and the justices are likely to hear a challenge to the law on the merits in its next term, which starts in October. The court struck down a similar law in Texas in 2016.

Related: Lawmakers in several states have recently been working on legislation that either protects abortion or makes it illegal, in the event that a conservative-leaning Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that made abortion legal nationwide.