A federal judge issued an injunction Monday on a Kansas law that denies groups like Planned Parenthood federal funding for abortions, stating that the group will likely succeed in having the law overturned.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten will save the Hays, Kansas Planned Parenthood $330,000 and allow it to remain open.

Under the law, family planning groups are forbidden from using federal funding in order to pay for abortions. Groups are still provided with money for other women’s health services such as pap smears, birth control, breast exams and gynecological exams, but federal family planning funds first go to hospitals and public health departments.

Without funding, the Planned Parenthood argued that it would have to close its clinic in Hays, Kansas, subjecting 5,700 patients to having to travel to clinics farther away, having longer waiting times, higher costs and less access to accepted services.

Judge Thomas explained that he ruled in favor of the Planned Parenthood because the law is unconstitutional and a violation of the group’s first and fourteenth amendment rights.

“The purpose of the statute was to single out, punish and exclude Planned Parenthood,” Marten said.

The president of the Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri Peter Brownlie feels the current injunction will help the group throughout its case.

“We take comfort in the fact that the judge said we have a strong likelihood of prevailing on the merits when the full case is heard,” Brownlie said.

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