Judge Blocks State from Enforcing Abortion Ban
Judge Blocks State from Enforcing Abortion Ban Against Religious Objectors
INDIANAPOLIS — A Marion County Superior Court judge has handed down a ruling that prevents the state from enforcing its near-total abortion ban against women who say the procedure is a requirement of their religious beliefs.
On Thursday, Judge Christina Klineman issued a permanent injunction, concluding that the state’s 2022 abortion law violates Indiana’s own Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The core of the decision is that the ban puts a “substantial burden” on the religious exercise of Hoosiers whose beliefs allow or even mandate an abortion in situations that the state’s narrow medical exceptions don’t cover. Judge Klineman pointed out that because the state already allows secular exceptions for things like rape or incest, it can’t legally claim that a total ban is the only way to protect “prenatal life” while ignoring religious beliefs.
This ruling is a class action, so it protects any Hoosier with a sincerely held religious belief that conflicts with the ban. While this doesn’t strike down the law for everyone, it creates a significant carve-out that the state is expected to challenge in the Court of Appeals.
