SAN DIEGO -- An administrative law judge in San Diego has refused to pull a physician's medical license amid accusations that the doctor violated a court order that forbids him from performing surgeries after an abortion patient's death.

On Thursday, the Medical Board of California sought an immediate suspension of Dr. Andrew Rutland's physician's license, saying they caught him in an undercover sting "being ready, willing and capable of prescribing the necessary medications for an abortion, and determining whether the patient was a candidate for a medical abortion," the Los Angeles Times reported.

The alleged violation took place at A Women's Choice Family Planning Clinic in Chula Vista.

Administrative Law Judge James Ahler refused the state board's request, ruling that Rutland repeatedly told the patient in the undercover sting that he did not perform surgical abortions after she refused to take his offer for a "chemical" abortion, according to The Times.

A "chemical" abortion involves a woman taking pills to induce a miscarriage. At the end of the meeting, an appointment was scheduled for the woman to receive a surgical abortion performed by Rutland's physician daughter, The Times reported.

Ahler is the same judge who, on Jan. 7, issued a court order barring Rutland from performing surgeries. The order came after the state medical board accused Rutland of negligence in the death of Ying Chen, 30.

Rutland allegedly attempted to perform a high-risk, second-trimester abortion on Chen in an ill-equipped and unsanitary back room of an acupuncture clinic in San Gabriel in Los Angeles County, The Times reported. An autopsy revealed that Chen fell into a coma and eventually died from a toxic reaction to a drug Rutland administered.

A full hearing on the matter was pending.

At time time of Chen's death, Rutland was on probation and under another physician's supervision because of an earlier incident in which two infants died, The Times reported.