A state judge in Indiana stunningly has decided that killing the unborn is a “religious right.”
And her ruling already is under appeal, according to state officials.
It is in a column at Breakpoint that the case, and odd ruling, is described.
It came in a case demanding, essentially, no limits on abortion that plaintiffs Hoosier Jews for Choice and their cronies in the American Civil Liberties Union demanded and got a decision that said Indiana law limiting the deaths of the unborn “violates religious freedoms by burdening the ability to obtain an abortion in accordance with their sincerely held beliefs.”
Judge Christian R. Klineman made the decision.
“The court finds that there is significant public interest in ensuring the religious freedom of all citizens and the state’s position that religious freedom is somehow less important than other exceptions in the abortion law puts the court in an untenable position and finds a permanent injunction the only proper relief,” she wrote.
The ACLJ, which historically has opposed religious rights in a multitude of fights, said, “Today’s ruling is a recognition that religious freedom protects people of many faiths and beliefs, not just those favored by the state … For more than three years, our clients have challenged a law that forces them to choose between their faith and their autonomy.”
The Indiana Capial Chronicle said that Attorney General Todd Rokita immediately appealed the ruling from the Marion Count judge.
“We disagree with the court’s decision and have already appealed,” said a statement from Rokita’s office. “As we have with every challenge against our pro-life law, we’ll continue fighting to protect the lives of the unborn.”
Klineman, a Democrat, claimed, “This Permanent Injunction is meant simply to capture those rare instances where an abortion does not fall within the enumerated exceptions but is likewise a necessary religious exercise. Although advances in medicine are extraordinary, neither party to this action have provided this court with an alternative mean to the very binary proposition of carrying a fetus to term or not.”
She said her injunction now applies to those in Indiana who say their religious beliefs call for abortion.
Mike Fichter, of the Indiana Right to Life group, said, “For the court to rule that taking the life of an unborn child is an exercise of religious freedom is deeply distressing — and a perversion of the law’s intent.
“Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act was never intended to equate taking the life of an unborn child with religious expression in our state. While this current injunction is limited to the plaintiffs in the case only, if it withstands challenge, it will be exploited so anyone claiming a spiritual belief, even if personal and non-theistic, can justify taking a child’s life.”
Explained Breakpoint, “Of course, asserting a religious right to kill kids is a diabolical attempt to be clever. And yet, twisting the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act is more than rhetorical snark. It indicates how dramatically the conversation about abortion has shifted in recent years, even as imaging technologies and prenatal medicine has clarified what abortion truly is. Not that long ago, politicians campaigned on the idea that no one really wanted abortion, but women needed it for extraordinary circumstances. Now, abortion is celebrated with light shows and dance parties, as if it is a moral good and any restrictions are a fundamental violation of human rights. It used to be ‘safe, legal, and rare.’ Now, it’s ‘Shout your abortion!’”
It warned, “What we are seeing is that abortion is not only thinkable; it is revered as a symbol and a rite of a terrible religion. That’s why the loudest advocates for abortion are claiming that people cannot have an authentic life without access to it. Of course, that betrays what they think really think, not only about the value of preborn lives, but about the moral abilities of human beings.”
