✍🏻openDemocracy | Court ruling should inspire US Left to reclaim meaning of ‘religious freedom’

Chrissy Stroop's latest highlights uses of religious freedom rights in IN

Chrissy Stroop recently highlighted some events happening in Indiana state courts, where judges are halting enforcement of abortion bans on religious grounds. Read the whole article here.

The ruling followed on the heels of another judge blocking Indiana’s draconian new abortion ban from being enforced while court challenges continue. I would have expected neither outcome, and they further strengthen my hope that the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down abortion rights is widely perceived as severe overreach, to the point that the public has been galvanised to fight back.

But here’s the kicker about the ‘foetal disposition’ case. The judge who ruled on it, Richard L Young, based his decision on religious freedom grounds. This challenges those who defend the Christian Right’s ‘religious freedom’ rhetoric, which has been a key driver of so much anti-democratic lobbying, legislating and legal manoeuvering in recent years.