Attorney General Mike Cox filed a brief Monday backing his appeal of a ruling that declared a Michigan abortion law unconstitutional.

MILive has more:

“I am asking the federal appellate court to uphold the will of the people,” the Republican said of the law approved by the Legislature in 2004.

In September, U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood in Detroit ruled the Legal Birth Definition Act placed an “undue burden” on women’s right to choose. Hood said the law was confusing and vague and its exceptions for the health or life of a mother were meaningless and unconstitutional.

Proponents of the law said they were attempting to ban a procedure they call “partial-birth” abortion, but critics said it banned all abortions. Previous attempts by state lawmakers to stop the abortion procedure were struck down by federal courts in 1997 and 2001.

In his brief before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Cox points to a January ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which said that lower courts in addressing flaws in abortion laws do not have to strike down an entire law. Instead, the justices said that other “modest” options are available.

Cox argues the Michigan law only bans the abortion procedure doctors label “intact dilation and extraction,” or D&X, and not other procedures that are constitutionally protected. The law can be construed to adequately protect a woman’s life and health, Cox says.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, who sued to block the law, have argued it is too broad.

The case is Northland Family Planning v. Cox.