The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to hear a lawsuit that seeks to use the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act to create a religious right to abortion.
The state’s high court is fast-tracking the case by bypassing the Court of Appeals and scheduling oral arguments for September 10.
Marion County Superior Court Judge Christina Klineman issued a permanent injunction in March blocking enforcement of Indiana’s abortion ban for a select group of residents who claim religious objections to the law.
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The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the case nearly four years ago on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice and anonymous plaintiffs. The 2022 law prohibits nearly all abortions, with limited exceptions for serious health risks to the mother, fatal fetal anomalies, rape or incest.
The ACLU lawsuit argues that the ban imposes a substantial burden on the religious practices of plaintiffs who supposedly need to kill babies for religious reasons.
“The core issue remains the same: Hoosiers do not lose their right to religious freedom when they become pregnant,” the ACLU said. “We look forward to continuing to protect the right to religious exercise for Hoosiers as this case moves forward.”
The state attorney general’s office requested that the Supreme Court take the case directly, arguing that the Court of Appeals “has already expressed its views on the principal issues in this case, and on summary judgment, the trial court effectively adopted the Court of Appeals’ analysis.”
Lawyers for the state wrote that “the time is ripe for this Court to decide whether the Court of Appeals’ original analysis is correct” and that “neither the law nor the public would benefit from delaying this case’s final resolution.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita celebrated the move.
“The lower court’s decision fundamentally misunderstands religious liberty by claiming it confers a right to abortion,” Rokita wrote on X. “We look forward to continuing our defense of Indiana’s pro-life laws in front of the Indiana Supreme Court.”
Indiana Right to Life says the high court probably knows how it will rule:
The Indiana Supreme Court has granted the State’s motion for immediate transfer in Individual Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana v. Anonymous Plaintiff 1, the RFRA challenge to Indiana’s abortion law.
The Court has set the following briefing schedule: the State’s opening brief is due May 22, the plaintiffs’ response is due June 21, and the State’s reply is due July 9. Oral argument is set for September 10.
By granting immediate transfer, the Court bypassed the Court of Appeals and will decide the case directly. This indicates the justices are prepared to address whether RFRA can be used to override Indiana’s abortion law.
The order granting direct review was signed by Chief Justice Loretta Rush.
Critics have called the lower court’s ruling absurd, arguing that religious liberty was never meant to be twisted into a license to end unborn lives. The case raises the question of whether sincerely held religious beliefs can override Indiana’s pro-life law, which protects innocent human life from abortion in nearly all circumstances.
The Indiana Supreme Court has previously upheld the state’s abortion ban, ruling that the Indiana Constitution does not contain a fundamental right to abortion.
