Washington (CNN) The American Civil Liberties Union and several other groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new regulation that is aimed at protecting health care workers who cite moral or religious reasons to not provide certain medical procedures, such as abortion.

Last month, President Donald Trump announced the finalization of the rule , which was first unveiled in 2018. The rule protects individuals and health care entities from unwanted involvement with services such as abortion, sterilization or assisted suicide, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, which said last month that the rule re-establishes existing protections created by Congress.

The rule also notes that complaints submitted to the office about gender dysphoria-related surgeries will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

In a statement, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which filed the lawsuit with the ACLU, Public Health Solutions and the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the rule "forces health centers that receive federal funds to employ individuals who refuse to perform essential job functions, without any regard for the well being of their patients or public safety."

The association said in the statement that the rule is "likely to embolden refusals to provide a range of other health services" and that under the policy, "a hospital receptionist could refuse to schedule an appointment for a transgender patient seeking gender-affirming care and an orderly could refuse to transfer a patient to the operating room for an emergency abortion."

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