Tampa rabbi joins lawsuit against Florida' s abortion ban - Axios Tampa BayLog InLog InAxios Tampa Bay is an Axios company.

Tampa rabbi joins lawsuit against Florida' s abortion ban

Illustration: Rae Cook/Axios Three rabbis, three reverends and a Buddhist lama are coming together to try overturn Florida's . Driving the news: A Tampa rabbi, Jason Rosenberg, joined a group of Florida faith leaders in Miami and Coral Gables to this week, claiming the abortion law violates their religious freedom. Details: In the suit, the rabbis say abortions for Jewish people are sometimes "mandated, in certain narrow circumstances, by their religious faith." "The view that abortion should not be legal is a Christian idea," Rosenberg told Axios. "I support Christians' right to practice it, but the government telling me I have to follow the law according to the Christian faith, that's horrific." Lama Karma Chotso, a Buddhist leader in Miami-Dade County, said in the suit that lamas should be able to counsel Buddhists "to use self-determination to make choices to access abortion services and birth control with no restriction on movement, autonomy, type, or timing."The other plaintiffs say that by imposing criminal penalties, lawmakers have inserted themselves into the basic principles of their faiths. Flashback: The legal challenge follows another filed against the state by a Jewish congregation in Palm Beach County in June.The ACLU and Planned Parenthood were able to get the law temporarily blocked by a judge last month, but it was after Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed an appeal. What they're saying: Rosenberg told Axios that permitting abortion is a well-established Jewish principle. "Judaism has discussed abortion for 2,000 years and has a complicated nuanced view about it," Rosenberg said. "This is not simply coming out of left field for us as Jews." Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note that three reverends (not two) have joined the lawsuit against Florida's abortion ban. Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

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