Indiana Court Grants Permanent Injunction in ACLU of Indiana Religious Freedom Challenge to Abortion Ban

INDIANAPOLIS – Today, the Marion County Superior Court granted a permanent injunction preventing Indiana from enforcing Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SEA 1), the state’s near-total abortion ban, against the plaintiffs and certified class when doing so would conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs.

The Court agreed that Indiana’s abortion law imposes a substantial burden on religious exercise protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). More than three years after the case was filed, the court's order makes permanent the protection that had remained in place while the litigation moved through the courts.

Because the court certified the case as a class action, today’s ruling reaches beyond the named plaintiffs and protects all Hoosiers whose religious beliefs direct them to obtain abortions that would otherwise be prohibited by the ban.

“Today’s ruling is a recognition that religious freedom protects people of many faiths and beliefs, not just those favored by the state,” said Stevie Pactor, Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of Indiana. “For more than three years, our clients have challenged a law that forces them to choose between their faith and their autonomy. This decision makes it clear that Indiana cannot enforce its abortion ban in ways that violate their religious freedom.”

A copy of the court’s order is available here.

UPDATE: Since this ruling, the Indiana Supreme Court granted the State’s request to bypass the Court of Appeals and take the case directly. The Court set a briefing schedule that will conclude on July 9, with oral argument scheduled for September 10 at 10 a.m. This means the case is now moving forward on an expedited path before Indiana’s highest court.