Does abortion ban violate religious freedom? Indiana Jewish group's lawsuit may decide

Natalie Demaree, The Charlotte Observer on Dec 12, 2024

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A religious challenge against Indiana’s near-total abortion ban — arguing the ban violates religious freedom — may proceed through a trial court, the state’s supreme court decided.

In a 3-2 decision, the Indiana Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction against the ban, meaning the state cannot enforce it for the case’s plaintiffs whose religious beliefs conflict with it.

The ACLU of Indiana filed the lawsuit in 2022 on behalf of the group Hoosier Jews for Choice and multiple Indiana residents, according to a Dec. 10 ACLU of Indiana news release.

That year, Indiana became the first state to approve abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, The Associated Press reported.

The state’s abortion law allows abortions only under the following three circumstances: if it’s necessary to save the life and physical health of the mother, if the fetus has a lethal abnormality or if the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest.

According to the lawsuit, the abortion ban conflicts with Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act as the plaintiffs “have a variety of religious beliefs that would compel them to terminate a pregnancy.”

The Jewish faith, for example, does not believe that life begins at conception.

“Jewish law recognizes that abortions may occur, and should occur as a religious matter, under circumstances not allowed by (the abortion law) or existing Indiana law,” the lawsuit states.

In 2022, a lower court granted the preliminary injunction. Then, the same court certified the suit as class-action, Stevie Pactor, staff attorney for the ACLU of Indiana, told McClatchy News.

That means in theory, the state would not be able to enforce the ban for either the plaintiffs or the class — defined as “any woman whose religious beliefs would direct her to terminate their pregnancy in circumstances not permitted by the statute,” Pactor said.

Then, the state sought to transfer both the injunction and the class-action status to the Indiana Supreme Court, but in April, an appeals court denied it and affirmed both the injunction and the class-action status. Then, the state appealed again.

McClatchy News reached out to Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office Dec. 12 but did not immediately receive a response.

Now that the Indiana Supreme Court has again affirmed the injunction and the class-action status, the case will proceed, Pactor said. The case will only go to trial if the parties don’t seek summary judgment or if summary judgments get granted to one of the parties.

“We hope that the case reaches a swift resolution so that we can make sure that the rights of Hoosier women are protected moving forward,” Pactor said.

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