COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio’s attorney general says he will appeal a federal judge’s decision to put on hold a state law that bans doctors from performing abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome.

Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine says Ohio has “profound interests in combating discrimination against a class of human beings based upon disability.”

Judge Timothy Black said Wednesday that opponents of the law are “highly likely” to successfully argue the law is unconstitutional. Black’s ruling means the law won’t take effect next week while a related lawsuit continues.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the state Department of Health, the state medical board and county prosecutors on behalf of Planned Parenthood and several abortion providers. It is seeking to have the law declared unconstitutional and thrown out.

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