INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Today the Indiana Supreme Court allowed a preliminary injunction to stand against Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SEA 1), Indiana’s near-total abortion ban, for plaintiffs whose sincerely held religious beliefs would require them to terminate a pregnancy under circumstances prohibited by the ban.
The case will now go back to the trial court.
In 2022, the ACLU of Indiana filed the lawsuit on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice and a number of individuals. A preliminary injunction was upheld earlier this year by the Court of Appeals of Indiana, affirming plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claims that Indiana’s abortion law violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
Under RFRA, the state cannot substantially burden a person's religious practice, unless it can prove that the burden is to further a compelling governmental interest in the least restrictive way possible.
The case has been certified as a class action, applying to all Hoosiers who have similar beliefs. We encourage anyone who feels that Indiana’s abortion ban infringes upon their sincere religious beliefs to contact us at intake@aclu-in.org.
The denial of transfer is available here.
