An Indiana court blocked the state’s near-total abortion ban on March 5 after a class action lawsuit argued that the law violated religious freedom protections.
The case centers on Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 1, which prohibits most abortions in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the lawsuit in 2022 on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice and five women who said their religious beliefs require access to abortion under circumstances not allowed by the law. Marion County Judge Christina R. Klineman issued a 17-page ruling that prevents enforcement of the law against these plaintiffs and any Indiana resident objecting to the ban on religious grounds.
“The court finds that there is significant public interest in ensuring the religious freedom of all citizens and the state’s position that religious freedom is somehow less important than other exceptions in the abortion law puts the court in an untenable position and finds a permanent injunction the only proper relief,” Klineman wrote.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has appealed the decision. Stevie Pactor, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Indiana, said in a statement, “a recognition that religious freedom protects people of many faiths and beliefs, not just those favored by the state.” Pactor added, “For more than three years, our clients have challenged a law that forces them to choose between their faith and their autonomy. This decision makes it clear that Indiana cannot enforce its abortion ban in ways that violate their religious freedom.”
Opponents of expanding abortion access criticized using religious freedom claims as a legal strategy. Alexander Mingus, executive director of the Indiana Catholic Conference, said, “Indiana’s religious freedom laws were passed for the purpose of protecting religious practice, not to protect the ending of a human life.” Mingus continued, “Religions that preach violence are not protected by religious freedom claims. While the court’s decision is disappointing, the Catholic Church in Indiana remains committed to upholding the dignity of all life and concretely supporting women with difficult pregnancies.”
Mike Fichter, president and chief executive officer of Indiana Right to Life, said: “For the court to rule that taking the life of an unborn child is an exercise of religious freedom is deeply distressing — and a perversion of the law’s intent.” He also stated: “Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act was never intended to equate taking the life of an unborn child with religious expression in our state. While this current injunction is limited to the plaintiffs in the case only, if it withstands challenge, it will be exploited so anyone claiming a spiritual belief, even if personal and non-theistic, can justify taking a child’s life.”
Senator Jim Banks called for impeachment proceedings against Judge Klineman following her ruling. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America expressed confidence online that “this absurd ruling will not stand.” Under current law, abortions are permitted up to ten weeks gestation for rape or incest cases and up to twenty weeks for lethal fetal anomalies or when specific medical issues threaten a mother’s life; procedures must occur at hospitals or hospital-owned surgery centers.
The Catholic Church maintains opposition to direct abortion based on its teaching about human life’s sanctity from conception until natural death.
