A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act, which will legalize medically assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live, and is set to take effect next week.

A group of disability rights advocates filed a lawsuit over the law in June in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. They claimed that people with life-threatening disabilities belong to a protected class under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and are at risk of harm if the law goes into effect. The groups said in the suit they wanted to stop officials from putting in place a "deadly and discriminatory system."

U.S. District Judge Orelia Eleta Merchant on Thursday ruled that the groups lack standing, denying their request for an injunction on the law, which was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in February and will take effect on Aug. 5.

The Medical Aid in Dying Act will allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to request life-ending medication. The act is the result of a more than 10-year battle by advocates. For years, advocates for the law, including those facing terminal diagnoses, have shared stories to help push the bill over the finish line in the Legislature. The measure has faced strong opposition from groups, especially people with disabilities who argue the law does not do enough to protect them from being pressured into the procedure.

The law faces a second lawsuit from four orders of Catholic nuns and several Catholic healthcare ministries. They argue that the law infringes on their religious freedoms by forcing them to participate in care that goes against their religious beliefs.