Seven states and two abortion rights groups filed suit against the United States Government seeking to convince the federal court to invalidate a law that would extend the protection level of the health care workers who refuse to perform abortions.

The lawsuit was filed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Thursday on behalf of his state and also on behalf of the states of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island. The AG said the Bush administration-passed rule, which he described as  “ticking time bomb,” would put women's health care at risk and would also undercut state contraception laws.

"We filed this lawsuit today on behalf of the millions of women whose health care has been put in jeopardy by the Bush administration's parting shot at women's health," Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said in a statement.

The regulation, as Blumenthal put it, "intentionally shrouds" abortion in "new and unnecessary ambiguity" because it encourages the defining of abortion and the denying of all forms of contraception.

The law, which was published in December, practically forbids governments and organizations that receive medical funds to discriminate providers who refuse to provide abortion-related medical services or information invoking their consciences. The abortion rights groups argue that the rule denies legal abortion and contraception services to women.

 “[The law] poses a serious threat to women's health care by limiting the rights of patients to receive complete and accurate health information and services," Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood of Connecticut said in a joint statement.