COA schedules oral arguments in RFRA abortion ban suit for September
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The Court of Appeals of Indiana will hold oral arguments in September in a case challenging Indiana’s near-total abortion ban on religious freedom grounds.
A panel including Judges L. Mark Bailey, Melissa May and Leanna Weissmann have scheduled arguments for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 12 in the Indiana Supreme Court Courtroom at the Indiana Statehouse.
Each side will have 20 minutes for arguments.
Plaintiffs in the case are arguing that Senate Enrolled Act 1, which bans abortion in Indiana with three limited exceptions, violates the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The Marion Superior Court agreed in December and entered a preliminary injunction, which the state is now appealing.
Appellees include the group Hoosier Jews for Choice and four anonymous plaintiffs. They argued in an appellees’ brief filed in March that the ban prohibits them from seeking religiously mandated abortions, and that they are altering their behavior to avoid getting pregnant as a result.
Meanwhile, Hoosiers are awaiting a ruling from the Indiana Supreme Court in a separate case in which plaintiffs have argued the ban violates the Indiana Constitution via a violation of the right to “liberty.”
Justices heard arguments in that case in January.
While SEA 1 remains enjoined, prior Indiana law allowing abortion up to 20 weeks’ postfertilization remains in effect.