A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked enforcement of a new Biden administration rule bolstering health care protections for LGBTQ people, handing a preliminary legal victory to more than a dozen Republican-led states that challenged it in court.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in May unveiled a final set of sweeping changes to Section 1557, the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act. The changes, which had been slated to take effect Friday, expand the rule's definition of sex discrimination to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, angering officials in conservative states.