The phrase "a substantial obstacle to" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing significant barriers or challenges that hinder progress or achievement in a particular context.
Example: "The new regulations present a substantial obstacle to small businesses trying to compete in the market."
Alternatives: "a significant barrier to" or "a major hindrance to".
In the early stages of pregnancy, the court barred only laws that are a "substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion".
"If they're denied or if the hospitals are dragging their feet, that's going to be more clear evidence that there's a substantial obstacle" to an abortion, clinic attorney Robert McDuff said.
For all the accord, however, the dispute over the Kuriles -- four rugged islands northeast of the Japanese island of Hokkaido -- remains a substantial obstacle to improved ties, one reinforced by nationalistic sentiments in both countries.
The Bush administration brief maintains that the district court applied "overly rigid standards" that "gutted" the Supreme Court's earlier holdings that abortion restrictions were constitutional unless they posed a "substantial obstacle" to an abortion.
In Alabama, district Judge Myron Thompson ruled last month that a similar law would mean "the majority of Alabama's abortion providers would stop providing abortions" and that "would impose a substantial obstacle to a woman's right to choose abortion".
A state law that restricts private health insurance coverage for abortions will go to trial to resolve whether it poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking to end pregnancies, a federal judge ruled Monday.
The presence of colonized patients in a chronically overcrowded and understaffed ER may represent another substantial obstacle to implementing hospital infection control measures [ 28], especially where resources are limited, and thus requiring specifically customized strategies.
Having said that, there is another substantial obstacle to sound international law (as if there were not already enough).
However, the written style of scientific papers represents a substantial obstacle that needs to be overcome for such 'automated' methods to be successful.
This is said to be the way more mainstream users want to consume music, which is convenient given the cheaper rates charged by the music industry for a service deemed to be Internet radio, while We7 believes that offline playback removes a substantial obstacle for this type of consumption to move to mobile.
The integration of c-Met and EGFR signaling in cancer cells indicates that treatment regimens designed to target both receptor pathways simultaneously could prove effective, though resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors continues to be a substantial obstacle.
