Satanic Temple says abortion ban violates religious freedom, to sue state to protect civil rights

Abortion is no longer a federal constitutional right after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last Friday. Many states with a conservative majority already have in place restrictive abortion laws while many Republicans are pushing for a national ban on abortion. Former President Barack Obama called it an attack on "the essential freedoms of millions of Americans." With the reproductive healthcare of America at stake, Biden and Democrats are refusing to codify Roe v. Wade or expand the Supreme Court to counter the ruling. The Satanic Temple is now commencing a legal fight for the right to have an abortion citing the violation of religious freedom. With conservative Christians leading the charge to ban abortion in America, it's only fitting that it's the worshippers of Satan who are fighting for the bodily autonomy and reproductive rights of people.

The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious group that has a reputation for its progressive politics, and much of its work is centered around taking governments, people and corporations to court. The religious group that considers abortion a ritual announced that it would take up the matter legally. "The Satanic Temple is the leading beacon of light in the battle for abortion access. With Roe v. Wade overturned, a religious exemption will be the only available challenge to many restrictions to access," the group wrote in a statement. "TST stands alone because we are the only entity that can assert a religious liberty claim that terminating a pregnancy is a central part of a religious ritual that encourages self-empowerment and affirms bodily autonomy."

"This means that the imposition of waiting periods and mandatory counseling is akin to demanding a waiting period and counseling before one can be baptized or receive communion. Clearly, that would be a violation of religious liberty," noted TST, which is registered as a religious group. "While the SCOTUS decision is clearly a major setback, the Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed religious rights. The Satanic Temple is currently suing the state of Texas to protect our civil rights," claimed the group. "We will also be suing the FDA for unrestricted religious access to Mifepristone and Misoprostol," announced the group. "These efforts to maintain abortion access are legally sound, but they take time to get through the courts, and regrettably, not all judges abide by the law."

The group declared that the abortion press was a ritual for the religious group. “We’ve ritualized and centralized the abortion process so that beforehand somebody needing an abortion can come to us for preliminary counseling in which there are these affirmations that attest that they made their choice within their understanding of the best available options and that this is the right choice for them, and that they did it in line with their religious tenets, which are our own,” said Lucien Greaves, TST’s co-founder, before confirming that the Temple has written a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seeking permission to provide its members with abortion pharmaceuticals as part of its Satanic Abortion Ritual. The Satanic Temple shot to fame after being profiled in the 2019 documentary "Hail Satan?"