(RNS) — Three Jewish women in Kentucky have filed a lawsuit arguing that their religious rights are being violated by a set of state laws that ban most abortions.
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 Roe v. Wade in their 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.
Under current Kentucky laws, life begins at the moment of fertilization.
Another law bans abortion after six weeks when cardiac activity is first detected.
The suit, filed Thursday (Oct. 6), repurposes a legal tactic successfully used by conservative Christian groups in recent years.
The NCJW is supporting and advising Jews in all three states where the abortion restrictions are being challenged in court. »