Florida ban on abortions after 15 weeks violates religious freedom of Jews, lawsuit says

Florida’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy violates the religious freedoms of Jews, a synagogue challenging the order has said in its lawsuit.

The suit filed by the Congregation L’Dor Va-Dor of Boynton Beach seeks to block the abortion ban by contending that it violates Jewish laws stating abortions are “required if necessary” to protect the physical and mental well being of women.

The abortion law also violates the right to privacy guaranteed by the state constitution, according to the lawsuit.

“As such, the act prohibits Jewish women from practicing their faith free of government intrusion and this violates their privacy rights and religious freedom,” said the lawsuit, filed on Friday at the Leon County Circuit Court.

It added that the people who “do not share the religious views reflected in the act will suffer” and that it “threatens the Jewish people by imposing the laws of other religions upon Jews”.

“For Jews, all life is precious and thus the decision to bring new life into the world is not taken lightly or determined by state fiat,” the lawsuit added.

This was the second legal challenge to the 15-week abortion ban enacted earlier this year by Florida’s legislature and signed into law by the state’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis.

Another suit was filed against the law by Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health providers earlier this month.

“Our office is confident that this law will ultimately withstand all legal challenges,” Mr DeSantis said in a previous statement.

The US Supreme Court provided a right to abortion nationwide in its landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling.

But a draft opinion leaked last month suggested the Republican-appointed conservative majority in the court will be poised to overturn the law, sparking outrage among feminists, activists and women.

The new Florida abortion law takes effect from 1 July and contains exceptions by allowing termination if the abortion is necessary to save a mother’s life, prevent serious injury or if the foetus has a fatal abnormality.

The law, however, does not allow for exemptions in case of pregnancy caused by rape, incest or human trafficking.

Florida is one of the 11 states where high courts have recognised that state constitutions protect abortion rights, according to global advocacy organisation Center for Reproductive Rights.