CLEVELAND, Ohio — A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday gave the OK to an Ohio law that sought to defund Planned Parenthood and keep the organization from receiving public money to pay for non-abortion-related health care programs.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled 11-6 to reverse a federal judge’s decision to declare the 2016 law unconstitutional. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote for the majority that the Planned Parenthood affiliates in Ohio “do not have a due process right to perform abortions.”

The six judges who dissented called the majority’s ruling “an assault on a constitutional right.”

(You can read the full opinion and the dissent here or at the bottom of this story.)

The decision is a blow to Planned Parenthood, which has 26 locations in Ohio. Locations in Bedford Heights, Columbus and Cincinnati provide abortions, while the others provide health services for men, women and children. The state is now free to enact the law.

The Ohio law, passed by a Republican-controlled legislature and signed by then-Gov. John Kasich, forbids the state from contracting for health services with any entity that performs or promotes non-therapeutic abortions.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region, which do not use public money for abortion services, sued after Kasich signed the law to cut off more than $1 million from them.

The programs for which the nonprofits won contracts help provide health services for the poor at little to no cost to patients. The services include testing for HIV/AIDS and other STDs, Pap smears and other cancer screenings, infant mortality prevention programs and sexual health education programs.

U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett in Cincinnati blocked the law from going into effect in 2016 and declared it unconstitutional later that year. A three-judge panel from the appeals court upheld Barrett’s ruling and the state asked the full court for a review.

All of the judges in the majority for Tuesday’s decision were appointed by Republican presidents, including four judges appointed by President Donald Trump. The judges who signed on to the dissent were appointed by Democratic presidents, save for Circuit Judge Helene White, a George W. Bush appointee unsuccessfully nominated for the court by Bill Clinton.

Senior Judge Eugene Siler Jr., a George H.W. Bush appointee, ruled with two other judges in April 2018 that Ohio’s law was unconstitutional. On Tuesday, he switched sides.

The decision says a woman’s right to an abortion without an undue burden does not extend to Planned Parenthood.

“Medical centers do not have a constitutional right to offer abortions, Sutton, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote. "Yet, if we granted Planned Parenthood relief today, we would be effectively saying that they do.”

The majority shot down arguments made by Planned Parenthood that the law would deprive Ohio women of a constitutional right, ruling that they were premature. From what the majority has seen, the law would not do so, especially since Planned Parenthood vowed to keep performing abortions, the opinion says.

The dissent, written by White, wrote that a provider’s right is “derivative” of the right women have, which means both provider and women have a right to abortion.

Ohio’s legislation was sponsored by then-state Reps. Bill Patmon, Democrat of Cleveland, and Margaret Conditt, a Butler County Republican. The state’s law, and similar laws across the country, was fueled by secretly recorded videos released in 2015 that claimed to show Planned Parenthood employees in other states selling aborted fetuses and fetal parts.

Planned Parenthood denied wrongdoing and an investigation by then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office found no evidence that Ohio clinics sold fetal tissue.

State lawmakers were not dissuaded, even after a Texas grand jury in January 2016 found no wrongdoing by the abortion provider and instead indicted the anti-abortion activists who filmed the videos. Those charges later were dropped.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio President Iris Harvey said in a news release that Tuesday’s ruling "is a direct attack on health care access for Ohio’s most at-risk communities.

“It’s shameful that politicians like Mike DeWine and John Kasich insist on blocking people from accessing essential reproductive health care and education in our state,” Harvey continued. The release says Planned Parenthood is exploring its legal options.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office did not immediately have a comment. A spokesman for DeWine, now the governor, did not respond to an email.

Mike Gonidakis, president of the anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life, said in a statement that he was thrilled about the ruling.

“Thanks to this very encouraging decision, Ohioans of conscience won’t have to worry about whether their tax dollars are going towards abortions,” Gonidakis said.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, said the ruling “rewards a political stunt by state lawmakers that has real consequences for Ohio women and families."