The measure, which if passed would state that there was no right to an abortion under Kentucky law, was voted against, according to the Associated Press. The measure was intended to enshrine in the state constitution that abortion is not a right, a development that some believed could hurt lawsuits against the state’s abortion ban.

The rejection comes as something of a shock for the Republican stronghold state, where incumbent Rand Paul also won in a landslide for Senate on Tuesday night, beating Democratic nominee Charles Booker 61.2 percent to 38.8 percent, according to Politico. Paul, according to his website, considers himself “100% pro-life” and supports legislation that works to end abortion access.

Despite the win for reproductive rights on Tuesday, abortion remains virtually banned in Kentucky with no exceptions for incest or rape, according to AbortionFinder.org. Exceptions to the ban, which went into effect on July 15 after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in late June, are made in cases where the mother’s life is at risk or there is serious risk to the pregnant person’s health.

In order to reinstate abortion access, Democrats will also have to win in state court next week when a judge is expected to hear lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood and EMW Women’s Surgical Center, Kentucky’s only abortion providers, which are both located in Louisville, according to a report from CBS affiliate WLKY’s digital team.

Samuel Crankshaw, the communications manager for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Kentucky, who is representing EMW in its lawsuit, told Newsweek that the legal team is “optimistic” for next week’s hearings after the election results.

“After this victory tonight, we are pretty optimistic that things will go well at the Supreme Court because there were multiple justices who indicated in a prior opinion they wanted to hear from Kentucky voters before they made a decision on that issue,” he said.

Crankshaw said that the hearings scheduled for next Tuesday only involve temporary injunctions to the state’s abortion ban, however, and that the “merits of the case [are] still at the circuit court level in Jefferson County.”

“At least my understanding is that once or if a temporary injunction is granted, then the lower court in Jefferson County will get the case moving again,” he added.

Kentucky is one of several states where abortion rights were on the ballot this midterm season following outrage of the Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson case. Kansans were the first to vote on the issue during their primaries in August, and rejected a measure similar to Kentucky’s.

Michigan voters as of Wednesday early morning were in support of a measure that would “create a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom,” reported the Times. With 52 percent of the votes in at 12:44 a.m., the measure was passing 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent.

Vermont was also the first state to codify reproductive rights into law, reported NBC News, followed by voters in California.