re: Has anyone had a religious exemption accepted/rejected yet?

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Are there similar passages that relate to the issue of abortion itself?

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The premise is that mankind is made in the image of God and has inherent value which can not be unlawfully (according to God's law) taken. Genesis 9:6 is the most referenced proof text.

The question, then, is whether or not God considers the unborn a part of that prohibition against unlawful life-taking (murder) by their designation as being valuable or having worth prior to being born.

Psalm 139 is a psalm of King David touting God's omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence as a way to praise God for His knowing of David and caring for him throughout his life. David, in verse 13 through 16 especially, shows that God has cared for David, even from conception and before; that David has value to God even before he was formed in his mother's womb, as God had sovereignly decreed the days of David's life from eternity past (v. 16), and the value of David extended to every part of his life, including the time in the womb. In other words, David acknowledged that God made him and cared for him from conception. He had value to God even before he was born.

Likewise the judge Samson was treated with value as a human being even before his birth as described in Judges 13. Samson was to be raised as a Nazarite, being subjected to the vow that would prevent him from cutting his hair, drinking alcohol, or eating anything ceremonially unclean. This was to be his way of life, yet it started from conception. Samson's mother was visited by the Angel of the Lord and told twice not to drink any wine or other alcohol or eat anything unclean throughout her pregnancy because of her unborn child. This clearly shows that the unborn child was valued and his mission to be a judge of Israel was in play even while yet to be born. His life was to be valued and protected by his mother while he was growing in her womb, and his special status as a Nazarite was to be protected even while he was yet to be born by the actions of his pregnant mother.

Then we have Jesus and John the Baptist. They were both prophets and Christ is our Lord. Do you think neither of them had value while they were in their mothers' wombs? In Luke 1, we are told that John would be filled with God's Spirit even from his mother's womb. Likewise, Jesus was proclaimed by Mary's sister, Elizabeth, as being blessed by God, but not just her, but her son, Jesus. Elizabeth, through the Spirit, proclaimed that Christ (the "fruit of [Mary's] womb") was blessed, even before being born. In that episode, John is said to have leaped for joy in his mother's womb at the greeting of Mary.

So to conclude, God has made mankind in His image with inherent value that no other man is allowed to destroy/kill without the permission of God according to His law. Children have been treated with equal value, and Jesus showed this several times in His ministry. Unborn children, too, are considered a blessing by God to the women who bear them, and the value doesn't begin at birth, but before.