Shock Move: Faith-Based Abortion Carve-Out?

Multiple hands holding a red Bible — Photo: Take Photo / Shutterstock

Activists are asking Indiana’s highest court to carve a “religious” loophole into the state’s abortion ban, a move critics say would invent a new right the law never granted.

Story Highlights

Indiana Supreme Court heard arguments on a religious exemption to the abortion ban.
Plaintiffs rely on Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act to seek abortions in some cases.
Appeals court earlier allowed a targeted injunction for those asserting religious burdens.
Opponents warn no constitution or statute creates a religious right to abortion.

State’s High Court Weighs Religious Exemption to Abortion Ban

Indiana Supreme Court justices heard arguments on whether the state’s abortion ban must yield when a claimant says her faith permits or requires abortion in some cases. The dispute turns on Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed in 2015, which limits when government may burden religious exercise. The state asked the court to reject a new carve-out and to keep the law’s existing narrow exceptions that cover rape, incest, lethal fetal anomaly, and serious threats to a mother’s life or health.

Plaintiffs in this case include several anonymous women and the group Hoosier Jews for Choice. They argue the ban burdens their sincere religious beliefs by blocking abortions that their faith allows or, in rare cases, requires. A trial judge and later the Indiana Court of Appeals allowed relief for the plaintiffs, though in a narrowed form, citing the structure of Indiana’s religious freedom law and the case record. The state appealed to the Supreme Court for a final answer.

How Indiana’s Religious Freedom Law Is Being Used

Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act says the government cannot substantially burden a person’s religious exercise unless it meets a strict test. The government must show a compelling interest and that it uses the least restrictive means to achieve it. Plaintiffs say the ban fails that test for them as individuals, so they want exemptions tied to sincere beliefs. The appeals court acknowledged that framework when it affirmed the core of the challenge and returned the injunction for narrowing.

Plaintiffs also note that a Marion County judge issued broader relief that later evolved through appeals. The record reflects that Hoosier Jews for Choice had associational standing to advance claims for members, which kept the case moving in state courts. Supporters of the lawsuit call this a proper use of a law that protects religious exercise. Opponents counter that it twists religious liberty into a tool that undermines protections for unborn children and the will of state lawmakers.

State’s Argument: No Religious Right to Abort a Child

The state argues that neither the Indiana Constitution nor the United States Constitution recognizes a religious right to an abortion. An amicus brief from First Liberty Institute warns that a win for plaintiffs would make Indiana the first state to invent a religious exemption to a near-total ban, creating a new religious right to abortion. The state also maintains that the law already has narrow secular exceptions for tragic and urgent situations, which address core medical risks without opening a broader door.

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The ACLU of Indiana was at the Indiana Supreme Court last week, arguing our religious freedom challenge to the state's abortion ban in the halls of the court and outside with the community.

This video shows some of the highlights from our rally outside.

— ACLU of Indiana (@ACLUIndiana) September 14, 2026

Critics of the lawsuit also question whether the claims are truly religious exercises under the statute. The First Liberty brief says the filings point to financial, physical, or mental health reasons, which are not religious exercises by themselves. The brief argues that religious freedom laws protect worship and sincere practice, not a policy preference to end a pregnancy. That framing urges the court to keep the line clear and prevent a sweeping workaround to democratically enacted limits.

Why This Fight Matters Beyond Indiana

Since the United States Supreme Court ended Roe’s federal regime, activists have tried new paths in state courts. Some now use religious freedom laws to target abortion limits. Indiana’s case shows that shift. Religious freedom cases often hinge on facts about a person’s beliefs and whether the state can show the least restrictive means. Abortion bans rest on the state’s interest in protecting unborn life. Those legal frames are different and can collide in hard cases.

A final ruling will signal how far courts will stretch religious freedom statutes in the abortion context. A narrow ruling could keep attention on individual facts and limit broader fallout. A broad religious exemption could weaken the ban and spark copycat suits elsewhere. For many conservatives, the stakes are clear: protect innocent life, respect real religious liberty, and stop efforts to turn faith into a license to end a child’s life.