A Texas state judge on Friday moved to shield a larger group of families from a directive by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) that ordered state officials to investigate parents and guardians who sought gender-affirming health care for their transgender children, but an immediate appeal by the state allowed the child-abuse probes to continue.

The injunction issued by Judge Amy Clark Meachum of the Travis County District Court temporarily blocked the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) from “implementing or enforcing” an agency rule, which stemmed from Abbott’s directive, against members of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), an LGBTQ organization that sued the state over the policy. The injunction additionally shielded Adam and Amber Briggle, who also sued after DFPS launched an investigation into the family over their teenage transgender son.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) immediately appealed the injunction, which allowed DFPS to continue investigating the families. A lawyer for PFLAG, Shelly Skeen, said that after similar appeals — Meachum had in July blocked the state from investigating two other families — they had received injunctions from an appellate court. It appeared likely that the plaintiffs would do the same in this instance.

A representative for Paxton did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Friday. His office argued in court this May that a judge’s decision to temporarily halt the investigations “prevents a state agency from carrying out its statutory duty to investigate reported child abuse.”