"Three Jewish women in Kentucky have filed a lawsuit arguing that a set of state laws that ban most abortions violate their religious rights.
The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson Circuit Court in Louisville, is the third such suit brought by Jewish organizations or individuals since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion in its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. In all three suits — the first in Florida, the second in Indiana — the Jewish plaintiffs claim their state is infringing on their religious freedom by imposing a Christian understanding of when life begins.
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"Judaism has never defined life beginning at conception," the Kentucky suit says, adding that "millennia of commentary from Jewish scholars has reaffirmed Judaism's commitment to reproductive rights."
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"There are a whole patchwork of laws, passed over the last 20 years," said Ben Potash, one of the lawyers who filed the complaint. "They're internally inconsistent and, put together, very vague."
Most Jews believe abortion is allowed and, in some cases, even required.
"Judaism has never defined life beginning at conception," the Kentucky suit says, adding that "millennia of commentary from Jewish scholars has reaffirmed Judaism's commitment to reproductive rights."
The suit, filed Thursday [10/27/22], repurposes a legal tactic successfully used by conservative Christian groups in recent years.
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In June, a Jewish congregation in Florida filed suit arguing the state's 15-week abortion ban — signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) — prohibits Jewish women practicing their faith free of government intrusion. In September, a group called Hoosier Jews for Choice sued, claiming, among other things, that the Indiana law banning abortion violated the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The women in Kentucky claim the abortion ban similarly violates their state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That law states that government "shall not substantially burden a person's freedom of religion" unless it proves a compelling interest and uses "the least restrictive means" to do so."
Source The Washington Post
The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson Circuit Court in Louisville, is the third such suit brought by Jewish organizations or individuals since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion in its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. In all three suits — the first in Florida, the second in Indiana — the Jewish plaintiffs claim their state is infringing on their religious freedom by imposing a Christian understanding of when life begins.
.
.
.
"Judaism has never defined life beginning at conception," the Kentucky suit says, adding that "millennia of commentary from Jewish scholars has reaffirmed Judaism's commitment to reproductive rights."
.
.
.
"There are a whole patchwork of laws, passed over the last 20 years," said Ben Potash, one of the lawyers who filed the complaint. "They're internally inconsistent and, put together, very vague."
Most Jews believe abortion is allowed and, in some cases, even required.
"Judaism has never defined life beginning at conception," the Kentucky suit says, adding that "millennia of commentary from Jewish scholars has reaffirmed Judaism's commitment to reproductive rights."
The suit, filed Thursday [10/27/22], repurposes a legal tactic successfully used by conservative Christian groups in recent years.
.
.
.
In June, a Jewish congregation in Florida filed suit arguing the state's 15-week abortion ban — signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) — prohibits Jewish women practicing their faith free of government intrusion. In September, a group called Hoosier Jews for Choice sued, claiming, among other things, that the Indiana law banning abortion violated the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The women in Kentucky claim the abortion ban similarly violates their state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That law states that government "shall not substantially burden a person's freedom of religion" unless it proves a compelling interest and uses "the least restrictive means" to do so."
Source The Washington Post
So, do you think these Jewish women have a point, that the state is infringing on their religious freedom by imposing a Christian understanding of when life begins, on them?
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