The Satanic Temple has vowed to pursue “religious abortion access” rights if the Supreme Court overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a right to the procedure.
The group said it would demand “a religious exception to perform TST’s religious abortion ritual” in states that outlaw abortion, citing the 2021 Supreme Court ruling in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which allowed an adoption agency to refuse to serve same-sex couples.
“The law is clearly on our side,” the Satanic Temple said in a statement posted on Twitter.
In states where exceptions to abortion bans are not permitted, the group said its claim of ritual abortion observance will “present more significant challenges.”
It is the latest upheaval over the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn the Roe decision that made abortion a constitutional right. Overturning Roe would send the abortion issue back to state legislatures and ultimately voters, a prospect that sparked fears of GOP-run states banning or putting restrictions on abortions.
The Satanic Temple said it would sue the Food and Drug Administration for access to abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol for “use under medical supervision as part of our religious abortion ritual.”
The group claimed protections for its “abortion ritual” under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act or RFRA.
The Satanic Temple said it also “is researching the possibility of creating religious abortion facilities.”
A spokesman for the Massachusetts-based group did not immediately return a request for comment from The Washington Times.
