Thomas More Society calls on Indiana Supreme Court to uphold state's pro-life law

The Thomas More Society has filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief on behalf of the Indiana pro-life group Voices for Life in a legal fight in which the state's Supreme Court will determine the fate of the state's law protecting preborn children from abortion.

Key Takeaways:

• This fall, the Indiana Supreme Court will hear a case arguing that the state's law protecting preborn children from abortion violates religious freedom.

• Thomas More Society has filed a brief on behalf of Voices for Life, arguing that abortion can never be considered an "exercise of religion."

• The brief says that abortion violates natural law, and was never considered a form of religious exercise.

The Backstory:

This fall, the Indiana Supreme Court will take up a case regarding whether or not abortion qualifies as an “exercise of religion” under state law. That argument is being championed by the ACLU of Indiana on behalf of a group called Hoosier Jews for Choice.

Indiana law, SB 1, protects most preborn children from abortion, with exceptions for babies conceived in rape, babies who receive a life-threatening prenatal diagnosis, and babies whose mothers receive a health diagnosis. After the law's passage in 2022, five women and Hoosier Jews for Choice sued to block it, claiming it violated their religious freedom.

As Live Action News previously explained:

In December of 2022, Marion County Superior Court Judge Heather Welch ruled in favor of the ACLU and placed a temporary injunction on the law. The state of Indiana appealed, but in 2024, the appeals court agreed with Welch. However, the appeals court also ruled the injunction needed to be narrower.

In March [2026], Marion County Superior Court Judge Christina R. Klineman issued a permanent injunction against SB1, though she did narrow the injunction to only impact those who claim the law violates their religious beliefs. Now, the Indiana Supreme Court will be weighing in.

The Details:

In its brief, Thomas More Society contends that abortion can never be considered an "exercise of religion" under state law. The brief notes that abortion has always been condemned as contrary to natural law, and historically was never considered a form of religious exercise. It also posits that the lower courts have ignored the Indiana legislature, which has enacted a state law requiring women to be informed that life begins at fertilization, and has noted a "compelling state interest" in protecting the preborn.

“This case is a Trojan Horse. The ACLU and its clients want to call this religious liberty, but it isn’t—not under any historically honest understanding of the term,” said Thomas Olp, Executive Vice President at Thomas More Society. He continued:

“From Cicero to John Locke to the framers of Indiana’s Constitution, the natural law tradition that gave us religious freedom has never treated the taking of innocent life as an exercise of religion. The ACLU is using a law designed to protect people of faith to smuggle in an unrestricted right to abortion. If this theory prevails, it won’t just gut Indiana’s pro-life protections, it will distort the meaning and purpose of religious liberty itself.”

The Bottom Line:

Regardless of what any court or law says, there is never a right — religious or otherwise — to take the life of an innocent human.