A religious freedom lawsuit against Indiana’s near-total abortion ban will go directly from a county judge to the state’s highest court.
Marion County Superior Court Judge Christina Klineman in March issued a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of the ban for a select group of Hoosiers with religious objections to the prohibition.
A majority of the Indiana Supreme Court on Friday granted a request from the state attorney general’s office that the case bypass the state appeals court, and scheduled oral arguments for Sept. 10, according to an order signed by Chief Justice Loretta Rush.
The state attorney general’s office argued 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.”
“The time is ripe for this Court to decide whether the Court of Appeals’ original analysis is correct,” lawyers for the state wrote in their motion. “Neither the law nor the public would benefit from delaying this case’s final resolution.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita celebrated the successful ask in a Saturday post to X.
“The lower court’s decision fundamentally misunderstands religious liberty by claiming it confers a right to abortion,” Rokita wrote. “We look forward to continuing our defense of Indiana’s pro-life laws in front of the Indiana Supreme Court.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana — which filed the lawsuit almost four years ago on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice and anonymous plaintiffs — said in a statement Monday that it’s “disappointed the state is continuing to fight this case.”
The lawsuit uses the state’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act to argue that the prohibition imposes a substantial burden on the religious practice of plaintiffs whose faiths permit or require abortion in broader circumstances than allowed by the ban.
“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 2022 abortion ban outlaws all abortions with limited exceptions for serious health risks to the mother, fatal fetal anomalies, rape or incest.
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