TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Court of Appeals ruled in a split decision that the state’s constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion independent of the rights granted by the U.S. Constitution.

The court made the statement Friday in a 7-7 ruling that maintains a temporary hold on the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester abortion method.

Tie votes from the appeals court uphold the lower-court ruling being appealed. That means seven judges agreed with a lower court judge, who ruled that the Kansas Constitution’s Bill of Rights has general statements about personal liberties that create independent protections for abortion rights.