US: Indiana judge blocks state from enforcing abortion ban challenged on religious freedom grounds

Another judge in the United States’ Indiana, blocked the state from enforcing its law on banning most abortions after it was challenged by a religious group and five individual women, on Friday. This comes after a judge had blocked the enforcement of the law previously challenged by Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers, in September.

Notably, Indiana became the first state to pass the new Republican-backed law after the landmark judgement Roe v Wade (1973) was overturned by the US supreme court in June. The lawsuit was filed by Hoosier Jews for Choice and five individual women who represent religions including Judaism and Islam as well as "independent spiritual belief systems," said the ACLU.

The lawsuit is also filed under Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Plaintiffs have argued that the abortion law infringes on their right to religious freedom which is protected by the aforementioned state law, said a report by Reuters.

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The case was presided over by the state’s Marion County Superior Court Judge, Heather Welch, who issued a preliminary injunction against the bill. The Republican-backed law seeks to ban abortions with some exceptions to cases of rape, incest, lethal fetal abnormalities or a serious health risk to the mother.

“The Court finds that S.E.A. 1 substantially burdens the religious exercise of the Plaintiffs,” said Welsh granting the motion of preliminary injunction, as the plaintiffs continue to challenge its legality. In a statement, the ACLU said that while some religions believe that life begins at conception, “this is not an opinion shared by all religions or all religious people”.

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