A federal district court judge has blocked a restriction set to take effect Monday that could have led most of the abortion clinics in Texas to close, reports the Washington Post.

Under the provision of  Texas House Bill 2, clinics performing abortions would be required to have hospital-like building features and equipment.

If the provision were to take effect, all but six or seven clinics remaining in Texas would be forced to close, because they could not afford the cost of the required improvements, according to abortion rights groups. Only five abortion clinics–in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston, currently meet the required standards.

U. S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel issued a 21-page opinion Friday, ruling the state law requirement placed an undue burden on women seeking the procedure.

Abortion rights advocates immediately praised the ruling, as they work to block a wave of state laws severely restricting access to abortions.

“The court has made clear that women’s well-being is not advanced by laws attacking access to essential health care, and that rights protected by the U.S. Constitution may not be denied through laws that make them impossible to exercise,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the organization that challenged the restrictions, in a statement.

“The State disagrees with the court’s ruling and will seek immediate relief,” said Lauren Bean, spokeswoman for the Texas Office of the Attorney General, in a statement.

Half of the abortion clinics in Texas have already closed down as a result of other state legislative restrictions, according to the Texas Policy Evaluation Project. The project is led by a group of academics studying the impact of abortion restrictions in the state. The group found that just over a year ago, Texas had 41 abortion clinics; that number has been reduced to 20.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed HB2 into law in July 2013, as part of his goal to make abortion “a thing of the past. ”