A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that a 2012 Arizona law restricting funding to abortion providers is unconstitutional, in a case that is headed for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Neil Wake issued an order Friday in the Planned Parenthood lawsuit challenging House Bill 2800, which prohibits any health care provider that performs abortions from getting Medicaid funding, even for non-abortion related care. Wake had already issued a temporary order, preventing the law from going into effect as scheduled in August.

Wake ruled the law violates the federal Medicaid Act, which allows eligible individuals to seek medical care from “any institution, agency, community pharmacy, or person, qualified to perform the service.”

“The Arizona Act violates the freedom of choice provision of the Medicaid Act precisely because every Medicaid beneficiary has the right to select any qualified health care provider,” Wake wrote in his ruling.

The ruling restates the argument Wake issued in his preliminary injunction. The state is already appealing the injunction. The 9th circuit has not yet scheduled a hearing date.

A national anti-abortion group, the Susan B. Anthony List, criticized the ruling.

“Judge Wake’s ruling thwarts the will of Arizona taxpayers to stop funding big abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood,” Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. “The overturned law would simply prioritize taxpayer funding for health care entities that provide comprehensive, whole-woman care.”

The case is likely headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. Several states strategically passed identical laws. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals last year ruled the Indiana law was unconstitutional for the same reason as Wake. The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas law as constitutional.