Indiana Appeals Court Upholds Injunction of Abortion Law for Religious Objectors

An Indiana appeals court upheld April 4 a preliminary injunction blocking the state’s enforcement of its near-total abortion ban against plaintiffs who say the law violates their rights under Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

The appeals court concluded that the abortion ban likely amounted to a substantial burden on the plaintiffs’—five anonymous women and Hoosier Jews for Choice—exercise of religion. In addition, the state failed to show a compelling interest in prohibiting religiously motivated health care decision or that it employed the least restrictive alternative given other existing exemptions from the law in the case of rape or incest, when the fetus has a lethal anomaly, or to save the woman’s life.