Religious organizations aligned with progressive causes are turning to religious freedom restoration acts to contest policies they contend infringe on their faith beliefs, marking a shift in how such legal protections are being applied.
In Indiana, a judge blocked the state’s near-total abortion ban in March after Jewish reproductive rights advocates argued that Jewish law prioritizes the life of the living person over a fetus. The ruling came from a lawsuit filed by Hoosier Jews for Choice and five women of multiple faiths, though the state has appealed the decision with the Indiana Supreme Court set to take up the case in September. Similarly, faith-based groups across the South and Midwest have filed class-action lawsuits seeking religious exemptions from state abortion restrictions.
Religious leaders have also challenged federal policies regarding immigration enforcement. In response to the Trump administration’s reversal of a longstanding policy protecting houses of worship from ICE enforcement, dozens of Christian and Jewish organizations filed lawsuits. A judge subsequently blocked warrantless enforcement actions near some churches involved in the litigation. Religious leaders argue that fear of raids has decreased church attendance and affected congregational finances.
Indigenous activists in Arizona have invoked religious freedom protections in an ongoing battle to prevent a mining company from developing Oak Flat, which they describe as a sacred site essential to Apache spiritual practices. A legal expert noted that a 1988 Supreme Court decision has historically presented obstacles for Native Americans seeking to preserve access to culturally significant sites.
Other progressive faith-based efforts utilizing religious freedom arguments include Safehouse, a Philadelphia non-profit that has pursued a religious liberty claim to operate a supervised injection site for opioid users, and a software engineer who secured a workplace exemption from using artificial intelligence based on her Unitarian Universalist beliefs. Legal scholars argue that religious freedom restoration acts were designed to protect religious minority groups from government overreach.
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