A judge in Indiana has said that a new law that would protect nearly all unborn children from abortion cannot take effect – because it violates the religious beliefs of pagans.
It is the Washington Stand that has documented the decision from Heather Welch, a superior court judge in Marion County.
Welch released a decision and an accompanying injunction against the state’s pro-life law because she said it violates the views of Hoosier Jews for Choice and a handful of individuals – all anonymous.
The individuals include a couple of Jewish people, a Muslim and a pagan.
Welch justified the ruling with: “[M]any [p]agans believe that in recognition of women’s autonomy demanded by their sincere beliefs, women must be allowed to obtain abortions.”
The Stand report noted, “Legal authorities say Welch’s ruling misses the point of both the state’s abortion and religious liberty laws. Indiana’s RFRA — like the national RFRA signed by President Bill Clinton — prohibits the government from substantially burdening anyone’s religious beliefs except ‘in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest,’ and it requires politicians to use ‘the least restrictive means’ possible. The government has a compelling interest in protecting innocent life, and no less restrictive means are available than prohibiting abortion.”
WND is now on Trump’s Truth Social! Follow us @WNDNews
The Stand reported the arguments in the case align with a strategy known to be used by the Satanic Temple to fight pro-life protections.
That organization demands that its church “abortion ritual” is part of the “religion.”
That argument, however, never has prevailed in a court because, “[i]t is not enough that your religion permits abortion; it has to be the reason, or at least one main reason, for the abortion. I don’t know any religion that teaches that as a general matter,” was the explanation from University of Virginia law professor Douglas Laycock.
There also are members of the Jewish community who dispute the concept that Judaism sanctions “child murder.”
Todd Rokita, attorney general for the state, explained, “Science, not religion, tells us that abortion kills a human being. When a legislature outlaws abortion, it extends the same ethical judgment embodied in laws prohibiting homicide. Making ethical judgments about the treatment of human beings is a compelling function of government. Indeed, the very nature of law is to make ethical judgments about human actions and their consequences. Just because a legal rule effects an ethical judgment does not make it ‘religious.'”
The ACLU represented the pro-abortion agenda in court, and the report noted it highlighted the pro-abortion advocacy of the Unitarian-Universalists and Episcopalians.
The report noted that the Supreme Court already has ruled in a Hyde Amendment fight that a woman who claim such provisions violated her religious beliefs lacked standing.
“None alleged, much less proved, that she sought an abortion under compulsion of religious belief,” the court said in that case.
Rokita told the Stand, “Laws protecting religious exercise are not commitments to anarchy.”
The Biden administration has openly criticized Indiana’s law that protects children from abortion with exceptions only for rape and incest, as well as lethal fetal anomalies.
Rokita told the Stand he would continue to fight for the law.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The “Climate Change Cult.” The “Anti-Racism Cult.” The “Cult of Wokeness.” The “LGBTQ Cult” and its predatory offspring targeting America’s children, the “Transgender Cult.” The “Cult of Abortion.” The “COVID Cult.” The “Cult of Globalism.” “TikTok Cults.” Every month the list grows.
To right-thinking Americans attempting to make sense of a nation seemingly gone mad, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the irrational, deranged – and often demonic – leftwing political and cultural movements currently capturing the minds of millions of Americans are nothing short of full-fledged cults.
Although the high priesthood of all these leftwing religious cults – i.e., university professors, academics and other Marxist ideologues and activists – may be true believers, the people actually wielding REAL POWER do not believe any of it. To them, these leftwing cults conveniently serve to disguise and distract “the rabble” from what the leader class is REALLY up to, which is the pursuit of ever more power, wealth and glory for themselves, and a total transformation of America and the world.
All of this and much more is explored in a powerful, insightful and absolutely unique way in the latest issue of WND’s acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine, titled “HOLY WAR: Defeating the growing cult of leftism and its total war on Christianity.”
For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!