Jewish Women Sue: Abortion Laws Violate Religious Freedom

Three Jewish women in Kentucky are suing over the state's abortion restrictions, arguing they violate the women's religious freedoms. Some members of religions including Judaism and Islam argue that they have a religious right to abortion, and the three women who filed the suit are indeed making the argument that their religious freedom is being infringed upon because the state is forcing a Christian worldview upon all residents, regardless of their religion. This is the third time since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that Jewish individuals or organizations have filed lawsuits fighting abortion laws, the Washington Post reports.

"Jewish law ('halakha') asked and answered the question of fetal personhood thousands of years ago and rabbis, commentators and Jewish legal scholars have repeatedly confirmed these answers in the intervening millenia," their lawsuit reads, per the Los Angeles Times. "While a fetus is deserving of some level of respect under halakha, the birth giver takes precedence. Jews have never believed that life begins at conception." The suit argues that the state legislature has "imposed sectarian theology" by passing what the women's lawyer describes as a "patchwork" of laws over a two-decade period that are "inconsistent" and "vague." A proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot next month would completely ban abortion in the state.

The women who filed the suit all require in vitro fertilization to become pregnant, and the lawsuit states that while their religious beliefs "demand" they add to their families, they don't want to start the IVF process without clarity on what will happen if they discard excess frozen embryos. "The law forces plaintiffs to spend exorbitant fees to keep their embryos frozen indefinitely or face potential felony charges," the suit says. "This dilemma forces plaintiffs to abandon their sincere religious beliefs of having more children by limiting access to IVF and substantially burdens their right to freely exercise these sincerely held religious beliefs." (More abortion stories.)