"curtailed the ability" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use this phrase to mean to limit or reduce someone's power or ability to do something. For example, "The new company policy curtailed the ability of employees to make decisions independently."
Sullivan led to a series of other court decisions that curtailed the ability of libel plaintiffs to win their lawsuits.
Stoneridge Inv Partners LLC v Scientific-Atlanta curtailed the ability of plaintiffs to sue peripheral players even though they had deep pockets.
But China, India and other rising powers seem to believe that the made-in-America crisis has curtailed the ability of the United States to set the agenda.
Regulations introduced in 2013 curtailed the ability of headteachers at state schools in England to grant up to two weeks' term-time holiday for pupils with good attendance.
It dissolved private organizations of all kinds and severely curtailed the ability of churches to perform their spiritual and educational tasks.
The system has been trialled in grants provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government and ministers said it had not curtailed the ability of charities such as Shelter from lobbying on housing legislation.
The new government is likely to curtail the ability of Dmitry Medvedev, the prime minister, to pursue market reforms.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have both suggested legislative changes that would curtail the ability of companies to spend lavishly on C.E.O.
To curtail the ability of civil society to effectively monitor the present elections, the Ethiopian authorities have over the last two years introduced a raft of restrictive measures.
At the C.I.A., where Addington spent two years, he focussed on curtailing the ability of Congress to interfere in intelligence gathering.
