A federal judge voided a Trump administration rule on Wednesday that would have made it easier for health care providers to avoid performing abortions because of their religious beliefs.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in New York said in a 147-page opinion that the rule is "unconstitutionally coercive" because it allows the Department of Health and Human Services to withhold billions of dollars of federal funding from providers who do not comply.

The "conscience rule" as it has been called, allows health plans and providers to refuse to cover or perform abortions, contraception and gender transition procedures if it is against their relgious or moral beliefs.

Engelmayer sided with the 26 plaintiffs in the case, which included Planned Parenthood, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and 23 states and cities, that claimed that the conscience rule threatens funding they rely on and could disrupt the health care industry.

"Wherever 'the outermost line where persuasion gives way to coercion' lies, the threat to pull all HHS funding here crosses it," Engelmayer said in the opinion.

He ruled that the policy also conflicts with Title VII, a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on religion and said the lawmakers who originally passed the policy "silently intended effectively to override that framework in the context of the health care industry."

Additionally, Engelmayer said that the rule violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which ensures public access to emergency services regardless of someone's ability to pay.