A federal judge has rejected the bid by a national anti-abortion doctors’ group to join a Kansas lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new abortion clinic regulations.

U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia ruled Thursday that the request by American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists would unnecessarily delay the lawsuit.

The doctors’ group claims its members in Kansas are losing childbirth business to abortion clinics. The judge disagreed.

It also claims its members are at a competitive disadvantage because abortion providers pass along the costs of any complications or medical care after abortions to other doctors.

Murguia decided that argument is unpersuasive and lacks credible evidentiary support.