President Joe Biden’s administration moved quickly Friday to appeal Thursday’s ruling by a Texas federal judge striking down a key provision of former President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act legislation mandating insurers provide free preventive care services.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. Northern District Court of Texas ruled Thursday that preventive care, including cancer and diabetes screening, as well as HIV prevention drugs, could not be mandated for insurance companies to provide to insureds for free, CNBC reported.

“Preventive care is an essential part of healthcare: It saves lives, saves families money, and improves our nation’s health,” CNBC reported Kamara Jones, a Health and Human Services spokesperson, saying on Thursday evening after the judge’s ruling. “Actions that strip away this decade-old protection are backwards and wrong.”

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